UI graduate students sweep MAGS Distinguished Thesis Awards

2014 May 1

Kaylia Duncan, a native of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Anna Lynch, from Vermillion, South Dakota, have contributed to the remarkable achievement of University of Iowa graduate students by each winning the 2014 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Distinguished Thesis Award.

Duncan, who earned her master's degree in pathology in 2013, won the award in the biological and life sciences category for her thesis "Dynamics of Tumor Progression and Therapy Response in IL-6 and MYC Driven Plasma Cell Malignancy," a study that uses a mouse model to determine patterns of tumor progression in cases of multiple myeloma.

Lynch, who received her master's degree in religious studies in 2013, won the award in the humanities category for her thesis "Early Lutheran Education in the Late Reformation in Mecklenburg," a study that covers the historical foundations and approaches to education in the Lutheran Reformation in Mecklenburg, Germany.

"This is a wonderful recognition of the outstanding work that our graduate students undertake and accomplish," says John Keller, UI associate provost for graduate education and Graduate College dean. "Kaylia and Anna both received virtually perfect scores by the reviewers for their superior research."

Duncan and Lynch were nominated for the MAGS Award after receiving the L.B. Sims Outstanding Master's Thesis Award from the UI Graduate College.

The Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools is a regional affiliate of the Council of Graduate Schools. MAGS member states include: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The Council of Graduate Schools/University Microfilms International Distinguished Dissertation Award is the nation's most prestigious honor for doctoral dissertations. Iowa has won five national awards, more than any other public institution and tied with Yale. Thirteen other Iowa nominees have been finalists in the competition.