The Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies honored 249 graduate students during its 2026 Investiture ceremony on Saturday, June 13, on the Dartmouth Green, marking the school's tenth anniversary. Faculty, families, and friends gathered to celebrate 118 PhD, 61 Master of Science, 38 Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, 19 Master of Energy Transition, 11 Master of Arts, and two Master of Fine Arts degree recipients.
Dartmouth leaders, including Guarini School Dean F. Jon Kull '88, Provost Santiago Schnell, and Vice Provost for Research Dean Madden, joined in the celebration. Madden, who delivered the keynote address, reflected on the role graduate students play in driving discovery. "Your curiosity, your hard work, and your creativity leave a deep positive impact on the world," he told graduates.
Dean Kull, marking his final Investiture as dean, spoke to the meaning of graduate education. "Graduate education is a process of transformation — a time to learn to think in new ways, to ask penetrating questions, and to push the boundaries of knowledge as you tackle some of the world's most complex problems," he told graduates.
Provost Schnell closed the ceremony by tracing academic degrees to their medieval roots, noting that the very first degree was not a reward for knowledge but a license to teach. He challenged graduates to carry that mission forward: "To profess means, simply, to declare openly what you hold to be true. That is what your degree has always been for — not a trophy for the wall, but a commission to pass it on."
Awards and Recognitions
The Hannah T. Croasdale Award went to Clara Sava-Segal, Guarini '26, PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience. This fall she will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University's Wu Tsai Institute for Neuroscience.
The John W. Strohbehn Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research was awarded to Kathryn Schneider Beauchemin, Guarini '26, PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, for her groundbreaking work on prion disease.
The Teaching Award was presented to Kelly Cantwell, Guarini '26, PhD in Physics and Astronomy, who has begun a postdoctoral position at the University of Calgary.
In the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, five students received Byam Shaw-Brownstone Thesis Excellence Awards:
- Charles Butler, Guarini '26 (General Liberal Studies)
- Stephen Marchand, Guarini '26 (Creative Writing, Fiction)
- Reng Zhao, Guarini '26 (Creative Writing, Non-Fiction)
- Abigail Dollries, Guarini '26 (Cultural Studies)
- Denisse Rojas Maldonado, Guarini '26 (Globalization Studies)
Caden Ide, Guarini '26, received the Privitera Family Distinguished Service Award.
Following the ceremony, graduates and guests gathered at a reception to celebrate their accomplishments and the school's first decade.
