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UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association has named retired NASA astronaut José Hernandez (M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, 1986) UCSB’s 2015 Distinguished Alumnus.

The Graduate Division is committed to providing quality programming to graduate students on topics such as professional development, career and job searching, finding funding, and writing support. The 2015-16 academic year will feature our largest ever programming schedule, and we are always looking for new and useful ways to serve graduate students.

At UC Santa Barbara, we pride ourselves on our innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and practices. That innovation was recognized this week, when the global media firm Reuters named the University of California system No. 13 on its list of the Top 100 World’s Most Innovative Universities.

UC Santa Barbara continues its impressive upward trajectory, rising to No. 8 on U.S. News & World Report’s 2016 list of the “Top 30 Public National Universities” in the country. The distinction represents a jump of two spots from UCSB’s position last year and is UC Santa Barbara’s highest ranking in the history of the magazine’s annual listings

UC Santa Barbara, described as “in the top echelon,” has risen a spot in Washington Monthly magazine’s annual list of Top 100 National Universities. The 2015 list has UCSB at No. 14, up from No. 15 in 2014 and No. 22 in 2013.

What is the secret to second-year Ph.D. student Jessica Perkins’ success? At first, you might think it comes from her growing up in a large, extended family in Rhode Island and learning to appreciate the value of active involvement in a community. Later, you might think it’s her time management skills. She earned a combined B.S./M.S. in Environmental Engineering at Tufts University while playing field hockey. Finally, you might consider her secret is that she only needs six hours of sleep a night.

Only in his second year of UCSB's Linguistics doctoral program, Daniel Hieber already has a Grad Slam win under his belt. His smooth and well-prepared presentation made him an instant standout, and he took first place at UCSB's 2015 competition. Danny then went on to the inaugural UC-wide Grad Slam and scored another win, an impressive second place!

Levi Maaia, a seventh-year doctoral student in Education, wants to "make" things happen. Levi grew up in East Providence, Rhode Island. He earned a B.S. in Film and Television from Boston University and an M.A. in Journalism from Emerson College.

In a landmark 5-4 decision on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in all 50 states. Reactions ranged from anger to pride. The GradPost interviewed a few graduate students to get their reactions to this historic ruling.

The National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity provides a series of mentoring services, including workshops focused on research and writing strategies, networking opportunities, and other forms of professional support and development.

Empowerment, discovery, achievement, and humanitarianism were the predominant themes during UC Santa Barbara Graduate Division’s 2015 Commencement celebration.

Of the 423 students participating in this Sunday’s Graduate Division Commencement ceremony, nearly half will have the privilege of wearing the doctoral hood. To avoid a hooding horror story, the UC Santa Barbara Graduate Division has produced a how-to video.

Graduate Division Assistant Dean Christian Villasenor was presented with the 2014-15 Margaret T. Getman Service to Students Award at the Student Affairs divisional meeting in Corwin Pavilion.

UC Santa Barbara Ph.D. students and mentors Stacy Copp and William Ryan have been named recipients of the Fiona Goodchild Award for Excellence as Graduate Student Mentors of Undergraduate Research.

The UC Santa Barbara Graduate Division is pleased to announce the publication of the inaugural Graduate Education magazine. The magazine showcases the “spirited and creative thinkers” who make up UC Santa Barbara’s graduate student body.