Celebrating Three Outstanding Graduate Fellowship Recipients
We are thrilled to announce that three exceptional graduate students have been awarded prestigious University Fellowships that recognize their academic excellence, impactful research, and dedication to undergraduate education. Each of these awards provides $28,500 in funding, graduate tuition support, and subsidized health insurance, helping students pursue their scholarly goals and expand their professional development.
Gabby Garza
Gabby Garza has received a University Teaching Assistantship (UTA), an award that supports graduate students engaged in innovative undergraduate instruction. Since 1995, the UTA program has served as a vital initiative to enhance both undergraduate education and graduate training. As part of her assistantship, Gabby will develop a new course titled Health, Media, and Pop Culture, which will equip students with the skills to critically analyze how health and health-related issues are portrayed in media representations. She looks forward to furthering her development as an educator and exploring the intersections of race, gender, health, and media.
Aly Hill
Aly Hill has been awarded the Marriner S. Eccles Graduate Fellowship in Political Economy. This highly competitive fellowship allows advanced PhD and LLM students to focus entirely on their dissertation research in areas connecting political economy to public policy. Aly’s dissertation examines how harassment targeting democratic professionals—such as journalists, government workers, and activists—impacts individual well-being and the strength of democratic institutions in the United States. During her fellowship year, she will participate in seminars and collaborative sessions through the Marriner S. Eccles Institute, culminating in the completion of a scholarly manuscript.
Yi Liao
Yi Liao is the recipient of the Steffensen Cannon Fellowship, a prestigious award established to honor Ellen Christina Steffensen Cannon—an early University of Utah graduate whose legacy reflects the values of education, resilience, and leadership. Yi’s research centers on strategic health communication, with a particular focus on health messaging and their impact on public knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Her dissertation will investigate the impact of uncertainty messages on public perception and behavior. Using experimental and quantitative methods, her work will contribute to both theory and practical applications in public health communication.
Our incoming Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Leandra Hernandez, says, "We are so incredibly proud of the transformative work that Gabby, Aly, and Yi are doing in teaching and research contexts. Their work has significant praxis implications that will meaningfully impact our discipline for years to come."
Congratulations to all three of our fellowship recipients!