Council on Undergraduate Research Recognizes Professor Ann Aguanno for Superior Mentorship

Ann Aguanno, Ph.D.

This past academic year, Dr. Aguanno organized the New York City Partnership to Advance Science (NYCPAS) High School Symposium at Marymount Manhattan College. The one-day symposium was a culmination of a year-long collaboration among nine New York City high schools with faculty and students from the Division of Sciences of Marymount Manhattan College. The collaboration provided research opportunities for local high school students and their teachers, while offering MMC students a chance to apply their mentoring skills. The MMC Division of Sciences was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 as the recipient of a grant of $400,000, which helped fund the NYCPAS Program and Symposium. The congressional intention of this award is to invest in academic programs at the College’s Geraldine Ferraro Center for Educational Excellence in Science, Technology, and Math.

Last October, Dr. Aguanno also mentored four MMC biology students who earned top honors at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s 13th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences. The annual symposium, held at the Honors University, University of Maryland, in Baltimore County, fosters communication of the latest relevant novel results and concepts in the sciences. 

CUR supports and promotes high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship, and works with agencies and foundations to enhance research opportunities for faculty and students. Although it receives many highly qualified nominees, the CUR only grants three mentorship awards annually. 

“Working closely with a faculty member in the laboratory, the studio, the computer station, or wherever, is transformative for students,” said David Podell, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the faculty. “Ann Aguanno has been recognized for her superior mentorship, and this type of mentorship is one quality that makes a Marymount Manhattan education particularly rich.” 

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: September 13, 2011