The University of Iowa Graduate College has awarded Greg Carmichael top honors for excellence in mentoring graduate students.

Carmichael, Karl Kammermeyer Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and co-director of the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, is the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering.

Carmichael was nominated for the award by his students and colleagues.

Since 1978 when he joined the UI faculty, Carmichael has mentored 40 Ph.D. students and 35 master’s students. Over the years, his mentoring philosophy has remained the same.

“I strive to provide each student an opportunity to identify and pursue an interesting research topic in a nurturing, safe, diverse, and stimulating environment for scholarship,” Carmichael wrote in his mentoring philosophy statement. “Expectations are high, individual and collaborative skills are actively developed, and student success is measured by record of scholarship and job opportunities.”

Marcelo Mena Carrasco, who earned his Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering in 2007, was inspired by Carmichael as a student and continues to be so as Minister of the Environment for his native Chile.

“He asked me if I wanted to make a contribution to clean the air in my country. He puts his students in challenging environments in which they can excel,” Carrasco wrote in his nomination letter.

Carmichael successfully balances being an acclaimed researcher in air quality modeling with developing the next generation of scientists.

Ph.D. candidate Negin Sobhani plans to be the next in a long line of Carmichael success stories.

“One of the important aspects of Dr. Carmichael’s interactions with his students is his ability to provide just the right amount of structure while allowing them the independence and freedom to research in their area of interest,” Sobhani wrote in his nomination letter.