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Doctoral Mentoring AwardsThe University of Florida Graduate School encourages and rewards graduate faculty for excellence, innovation and effectiveness in mentoring andadvising doctoral and graduate students through their dissertation or thesis projects. The recipients of the 2013-2014 award, and excerpts from theirpersonal statements, follow.2014 SPRINGCommencement18Stephen W. SmithProfessorSchool of Special Education,School Psychology, &Early Childhood StudiesCollege of EducationWhen graduate studentsin special education lookfor a mentor, they oftenseek Stephen W. Smith.Dr. Smith, who has chairedor co-chaired 73 doctoraland master’s committees, welcomes them.Dr. Smith says one of the most critical aspects ofthe educational enterprise is the development ofindependent learners.“Helping students overcome self doubt while, at thesame time, supporting and inspiring them to developemotional resilience and requisite skills to evolve intopromising teacher educators and researchers is often theresult of an influential and satisfying relationship witha faculty mentor,” says Dr. Smith, the Irving and RoseFein Endowed Professor.Current and former students praise Dr. Smithfor providing opportunities to present research atconferences and publish, often as a co-author with him.Second-year doctoral student Michelle M. Cummingsays Dr. Smith’s passion for the field is infectious.Donna L. Pitts, another current student, says it is easy tosee why Dr. Smith has won the Teacher of the Year awardfor the College of Education and why he is one of UF’stop 100 researchers. She also appreciates his warmth.“Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with cancer, andthrough the diagnosis, treatment and recovery,Dr. Smith supported me with the utmost in compassionand encouragement,” Ms. Pitts says.Gregory G. Taylor, now teaching at the University ofIllinois, says Dr. Smith taught him to appreciate thehistory of the profession and today, as colleagues, theycollaborate.“Confident in my abilities (even when I was not), Stephenprovided instruction, resources and opportunities forme,” Dr. Taylor says. “Currently entering my secondyear as faculty at a major research university, I continueto seek Stephen’s advice on navigating the world ofacademia.”Jean B. Crockett, director of the School of SpecialEducation, School Psychology, and Early ChildhoodStudies, said the UF special education programconsistently ranks in the top 10 nationally, partly becauseof Dr. Smith’s highly visible and well-funded program.Lynn SollenbergerProfessorDepartment of AgronomyCollege of Agriculturaland Life SciencesGood mentors help charta path through school,but great mentors becomelifelong colleagues andcollaborators, and that’s howLynn Sollenberger’s menteesview him.In fact, his former students look forward to theirannual professional meeting, where several academicgenerations of the “Sollenberger stables” get together torenew friendships and perhaps plan a few experimentstogether.Bruce Mathews, now interim dean at the University ofHawaii, said his decision to attend UF for doctoral workwas based on Dr. Sollenberger’s reputation as a risingstar in grassland agriculture.“Dr. Sollenberger is the most committed professorthat I have ever observed when it comes to doctoraladvising, and this relationship with his students hasoften continued well beyond the Ph.D.,” Dr. Mathewssays. “Even today, I frequently seek his editorial inputon grant proposals and journal article manuscripts inaddition to assistance on analytical procedures, effectiveteaching, and institutional policies.”Dr. Sollenberger says his goal as a mentor is to graduate“capable, independent and productive scientists whoare excited about what they do . . .”“Graduate student mentoring is not a casual task, andlike being a parent, it should not be treated casually,”Dr. Sollenberger says. “. . . effective mentors are handson, interactive and engaged with their students.”Kenneth Quesenberry, a professor emeritus andinterim chair of the agronomy department, supervisedDr. Sollenberger’s doctoral studies and has watchedDr. Sollenberger become a “consummate example of auniversity scholar and mentor.”“It is striking to me in reading [nomination] lettersthat both former and current students consistentlyspeak to Dr. Sollenberger’s ability to make each studentfeel special by giving dedicated individual time whenneeded and then allowing freedom to be creative andindependent when appropriate,” Dr. Quesenberry says.Dr. Sollenberger has served on 119 graduate committeesand has chaired or co-chaired the committees of 48graduate students, including 26 doctoral students.