To Members of the UCR Campus Community:

On behalf of the Graduate Council and the Graduate Division I am pleased to announce the winner of the 2007 Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentor Award: Dr. John Rotenberry. The Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award was instituted by the Graduate Council and Graduate Division to recognize faculty that have made outstanding contributions to the training of advanced graduate students at the University

The winner of the Sixth Annual Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award is John Rotenberry, Professor of Biology. He completed his Ph.D. at Oregon State University and was previously a member of the faculty at Bowling Green State University. Professor Rotenberry joined the UCR faculty in 1994, and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001, and in 2007 PRBO Conservation Science awarded Professor Rotenberry the Lifetime Achievement in Ecology award. His research is in the area of community ecology and conservation biology, where he examines how environmental factors interact to determine species diversity and community composition. Current and former students who wrote in support of his nomination describe how he gives students freedom to work independently, but also provides feedback and encouragement to enable their growth as scientists. Especially notable in these comments was the consistent mention of the sense of community that students working under his direction felt with one another, and how this translated into accomplishments for all concerned. Perhaps the finest compliment is the desire of his former students to emulate his example: "If I manage to be an effective mentor myself," writes one, "it will be because I learned from a master."

Please join me in congratulating Professor Rotenberry.

Sincerely,

Dallas L. Rabenstein
Dean, Graduate Division