The Graduate School is pleased to announce that Dr. Laurie Wideman has been selected to receive the 2020–2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.
Dr. Wideman has served as a research mentor or as graduate committee member for scores of UNCG students, as well as mentoring undergraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty. Her mentoring goes far beyond the usual training on how to be an excellent researcher, colleague, and professional. Dr. Wideman encourages her mentees to “find their own scientific passion and pursue it.”
She takes deep satisfaction from connecting with each student individually, treating them with respect and kindness and encouraging them to treat missteps as opportunities for growth. Of particular note, Dr. Wideman’s mentoring extends beyond her own research mentees to students across campus helping them shape and enjoy their graduate experience.
Her mentorship continues as her students take positions in and out of the academy and her mentees themselves emulate her mentoring in their own lives as they connect with their students. She says, “There is no part of my job that I love more than mentoring.” The 65+ students who are fortunate enough to have had Dr. Wideman on their committees as well as many others whose graduate experiences were shaped by her, bear this out. “I used to think I was special,” writes one former student, “but I have discovered … that Dr. Wideman does all this and more for each of her mentees. It is part of who she is.”
