Advising and mentoring honors

Achieving a doctoral degree is a strenuous and demanding business that can strain every neuron a student can muster. Having an adviser of the caliber of Joshua Zide, professor of materials science and engineering, who brings a unique blend of service, compassion and research excellence to the task, can make a profound difference for students. For his commitment to student success professionally and personally, Zide has won the University of Delaware’s 2022 Outstanding Doctoral Advising and Mentoring Award. The award is given annually to a faculty member whose dedication and commitment to excellence in graduate training have made “a significant contribution to the quality of life and professional development of graduate students” at UD. “Josh’s style of mentorship is best captured by the concept of servant leadership,” doctoral student James Bork wrote in his letter of nomination, “which constitutes an inversion of the traditional boss/subordinate hierarchy. Zide heard something similar when he was a student and realized the impact that approach had on him. “He said, ‘I’m Art Gossard and I work with Joshua,’” Zide recalled. “Josh’s unique student-oriented approach fosters an almost parental relationship with us students,” Bork wrote, “one where not only is our performance as a researcher important, but also our mental and emotional wellbeing. Those qualities were especially welcome as the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic bit into everyone’s lives, exacerbating already difficult conditions, Bork said.

Zide customizes his advising methods to meet student’s different needs, doctoral student Lauren Nowicki McCabe said in her nomination letter. “This could be either weekly or as-needed individual meetings, offering extra practice on presentations, extra attention given to editing student writing, tutoring in concepts from classes he didn’t even teach, running down to the lab as a sanity check during equipment maintenance, and the list goes on and on,” she wrote. McCabe also noted Zide’s “dad jokes” — “which always helps everyone roll their eyes and feel at ease” — and the occasional visits of Zide’s dogs to help students de-stress. “He has cheered with me when my experiments work, knocked on wood for the ones that we’re excited about and groaned with me when things went disastrously wrong,” McCabe wrote. A student who was not among his advisees but took Zide’s course on Epitaxial Growth and Band Engineering in 2019, wrote that the experience was not only outstanding academically but also transformative personally. Zide’s “expert guidance helped me to navigate through academic struggles and his kindred spirit and kindness helped me to regain my self-esteem and confidence,” wrote Kazy Fayeen Shariar, now an engineer with GlobalFoundries. Zide’s research in nanoscale engineering, specifically in the use of molecular beam epitaxy for engineering new semiconductors and nanocomposites, has been recognized with awards throughout his career. As he excels in these endeavors, he brings students into that environment of excellence, helping them to hone their research skills, find their footing as scientists in advanced engineering and navigate the many challenges that arise along the way. “I think that I excel in my research precisely because I enable my students to bring their best selves to their work,” he said.

Bork said making time to help and care for others is central to Zide’s approach to research and life. “He frequently encourages us to be ‘good neighbors’ to others and insists that time spent helping others is equally as important as time making progress on my research,” Bork said. Zide has chaired seven doctoral thesis committees, two master’s thesis committees and served as a member of 45 other thesis committees in materials science and engineering and across campus. His students have earned many significant awards, including competitive doctoral and graduate fellowships and awards for service, research, teaching and professional development. “This impressive number of awards for his current and past students clearly is indication of his strong mentorship and energetic support of his students as they work in the classroom and laboratory under his leadership,” wrote Darrin Pochan, chair and professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, in his letter of nomination. In addition to his research, teaching and advising work, Zide directs the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program, was co-founder of the popular “Words for Nerds” program that aims to help students excel in science communication, and is co-director of the Materials Growth Facility. Zide, who joined the UD faculty in 2007, earned his bachelor’s degree at Stanford University and his doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Read full article at UDaily

What are advising styles?

What is the difference between honors and highest honors?

What is an advising process?

What is an advising model?

What is academic advising system?