The IUPUI Graduate Mentoring Center Outstanding Mentor Award is given to encourage and recognize outstanding mentoring of graduate and professional students and identify best practices for graduate mentoring at IUPUI.
2023 IUPUI Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentor
The recipient of the 2023 IUPUI Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentor award is Dr. Katrenia Reed-Hughes (Dr. K), Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership in the Department of Technology Leadership and Communication at the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology. Dr. Reed-Hughes is a founding member of the Midwest Experiences in Mentoring Excellence (MEME) collaborative, and a Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) trained facilitator. Dr. Reed-Hughes’ research focuses on culturally responsive mentoring, and project management as career trajectory catalyst for marginalized population workforce development. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) she has been invited to present internationally on culturally responsive mentoring, project management self-efficacy, and building bridges between higher education and industry with intentional relationship-based communities. Dr. Reed-Hughes’ lived experience growing up in a sharecropper village in rural southeast Missouri affords her a unique perspective on building resilience to help sustain people during difficult times. Whether functioning in the role of mentor, advocate, educator, scholar or colleague, her primary motivation remains constant. She meets people where they are to help them articulate and realize their dreams. Dr. Reed-Hughes’ view of learning to successfully address life’s challenges is inspired by Nelson Mandela’s words, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
The recipient of the 2022 IUPUI Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentor award was Professor Genevieve G. Shaker, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Adjunct Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. Professor Shaker’s research focuses on fundraising and fundraisers, workplace philanthropy, philanthropy education, and higher education advancement—including faculty work and the public good as well as philanthropic practices within higher education.
Her nominations spoke of her personalized mentoring, collaborative nature, and constructive feedback. One nominator wrote: “She seeks to build a personal relationship based on her genuine commitment to the person, their interests and their competence. She works on developing new skills and she especially seeks to demonstrate that continual efforts are what pay off. Every setback is a learning point, every attempt, even if it is not successful, helps to define objectives more clearly. She sees work as a collaborative effort.”