Past Commencements
Commencement 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025, students from the Graduate School were honored in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium. Supported by rigorous UTSW training in basic and clinical science, they will go on to become leaders in biomedical research and education whose work will help translate discoveries into treatments to improve health globally. Download the Commencement Program.
2025 Commencement Stories
Recognizing 2024-2025 Graduates
- Biological Chemistry
Program Director: Glen Liszczak, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Juliana Nicole Flaherty
- Vicky Li
- Michael Ryan McConville
- Dylon Ross Stephens
- Alex Carl Sternisha
- Xunzhi Zhan
- Biomedical Engineering
Program Director: W. Matthew Petroll, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Natalie Marie Bell
- Çelik Boğa
- Mitzy Astrid Cowdin
- Sebastian Fonseca Gonzalez
- Sorour Hosseini
- Conner Wayne Hutcherson
- Siva Sai Krishna Venigalla
- Zhuoyu Wen
Master of Science
- Corbin Gabriel Maciel
- Cancer Biology
Program Director: Rolf A. Brekken, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Isabella Nance DePasquale
- Claudette Rae Fraire
- Samantha Michelle Golomb
- Mia Elizabeth Hofstad
- Ryan Robert Kowash
- Michael Lee, Jr.
- Natalie Zara Phinney
Master of Science
- Shilpa Dhar
- Cell and Molecular Biology
Program Director: Angelique Whitehurst, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Priyankaa Anna Bhatia
- Jose Francisco Calva Moreno
- Sarah Ashley Cobb
- Alia Renee Edington
- Adam Michael Lyon
- Madeleine Claire Marlar-Pavey
- Ryan Michael Otto
- Gina Jiyeon Park
- Rose Marie Pedretti
- Milan Rashmin Savani
- Lexus Marc Tatge
- James Shicong Ye
Master of Science
- Andrea Claire Waltrip
- Clinical Psychology
Program Director: Richard Robinson, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Gabrielle Alexandra Agnew
- Monica Yessenia Garza Saenz
- Jessica Helene Helphrey
- Anthony Joseph Longoria
- Adrianna Nicole Asantewa Martin
- Karen Julia Meltzer
- Kendall Jerilyn Sharp
- Courtney Kim-Ngoc Tran
- Rebecca Joan Wildman
- Genetics, Development, and Disease
Program Director: Ondine Cleaver, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Emily Binshtok Ballard
- Karla Gabriela Cano Hernandez
- Helin Hocaoglu
- Yingjie Hu
- Heankel Yamilet Lyons
- Marianne Mercer
- Huong Tra Ngo
- Julia Dan-Thanh Phan
- Kathia E. Rodarte
- Celeste Aya Romero
- David Alejandro Sanchez
- MiKayla Sheree Stokes
- Yihan Wang
- Kielen Rainier Zuurbier
Master of Science
- Kenneth Ian Martinez-Algarin
- Immunology
- Molecular Biophysics
Program Director: Luke M. Rice, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Sofia Bali
- James R. Elder
- June Ho Hwang
- Klaudia Marta Jaczynska
- Jared Christopher Smothers
- Angela Jiayuan Zou
- Molecular Microbiology
Program Director: John Schoggins, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- John Kenneth Neff
- Nestor Ruiz
- Brittany Michelle Stewart
- Alexis Antoinette Waller
- Neuroscience
Program Director: Maria Chahrour, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Lidiette Marie Angeles Perez
- Lance Robert Heady
- Therese Marie Irvine Koch
- Anne Ebunoluwa Ojo
- Ana Karen Ortiz
- Robert John-Marion Pendry
- Brianna Renee Ramirez
- Richard Rueda, IV
- Organic Chemistry
Program Director: Uttam K. Tambar, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Hejun Deng
- Zhenghao Qian
Master of Science
- Andriana Paola Claudio Vázquez
- Cuong Vo
Commencement 2024
On Thursday, May 16, Graduate School students received their degrees in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium at a 7 p.m. commencement. Download the Commencement Program.
2024 Commencement Stories
Recognizing 2023-2024 Graduates
- Biological Chemistry
Program Director: Benjamin P. Tu, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Christopher Luis Cervantes
- Krystal Courtney Johnson
- Michael Alexander Pontikos
- Biomedical Engineering
Program Director: W. Matthew Petroll, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Paul Humberto Acosta
- Zachary Thomas Bennett
- Carlos Jesus Brambila
- Sean A. Dilliard
- Yin Gao
- Sheng Qing Lin
- Elizabeth Marie Polsdofer
- Limin Zhou
- Cancer Biology
Program Director: Rolf A. Brekken, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Ester Alvarez Benedicto
- Joseph Louis Bower
- Yan Fang
- Mauricio Antonio Marquez Palencia
- Carla Sofia Rodriguez Tirado
- Mingrui Zhu
Student Awards
- Cell and Molecular Biology
Program Director: Angelique Whitehurst, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Julita Chlebowicz
- Bianca Catriona Field
- Atossa Ghorashi
- Mehmet Oguz Gok
- Amrita Shrikant Gokhale
- Lizbeth Perez Castro
- Hande C. Piristine
- Luis Carlos Reza Herrera
- Manolo Uriel Rios
- Spencer Dewayne Shelton
- Natalie Ortiz Speer
- Clinical Psychology
Program Director: Richard Robinson, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Ellen Marie Andrews
- Haley Sora Brown
- Tanisha R. Clark
- Karen Atilegna Dorsman
- Afsoon Gazor
- William Foster Goette
- Allison P. Gregg
- Jessica Orobio
- Jessica Marie Woodford
- Genetics, Development, and Disease
Program Director: Ondine Cleaver, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Daniel Alejandro Armendariz
- Phoebe Catherine Carter
- Andreas Chenzhang Chai
- Tyron Chang
- Yujing Cheng
- Lauretta El Hayek
- Tuozhi Huang
- Usman Hyder
- Benjamin Thomas Jones
- Chunyang Ni
- Nicole Marie Novaresi
- Carlos Andres Pinzon Arteaga
- Daniel Andrew Schmitz
- Choushi Wang
- Jingcheng Wang
- Yichi Zhang
Master of Science
- Yuki Inaba
Student Awards
- Immunology
Program Director: Anne Satterthwaite, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Sushobhna Batra
- Ryan Shie Huang
- Kennady Noelle Knox
- Molecular Biophysics
Program Director: Luke M. Rice, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Michael Antonio Cotten
- Umang Goswami
- Casey Elizabeth Hudman-Wing
- Dagimhiwat Hailu Legesse
- Philip Frederick Paul Schmiege
- Jesus A. Vega Lugo
- Liwei Wang
- Molecular Microbiology
Program Director: John Schoggins, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Melissa Renee Budicini
- Wesley Berry Burford
- Matthew Bret McDougal
- Moiz Munir
- Keyera Larlan Randolph
- Vivian Kimberly Rojas
- Da Hee Seo
Master of Science
- Nguyen Hoang Khanh Vo
- Neuroscience
Program Director: Maria Chahrour, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Newaz Ibrahim Ahmed
- Danyal Hassan Alam
- Emre Caglayan
- Ambar Cajigas Hernandez
- Katherine Poinsatte
- Jennifer Nicole Putman
- Natalia Rodriguez-Sosa
- Gordon Chandler Werthmann
- Organic Chemistry
Program Director: Uttam K. Tambar, Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
- Jake M. Aquilina
- James Edward McGettigan, Jr.
- Cooper Atkins Vincent