Associate Professor Daryl Davies has been recognized by the university for his dedication to student mentoring with a USC Mellon Mentoring Award.
According to the university, “The USC Mellon Mentoring Awards honor individual faculty for helping build a supportive academic environment at USC through faculty-to-student and faculty-to-faculty mentoring. The main criterion for the awards is the demonstration of a continued commitment to mentoring, and effectiveness in mentoring.”
This year, over 200 nominations were submitted and only 22 were chosen to receive awards.
“Excellence in teaching and mentorship are of the utmost importance for a faculty member at the School of Pharmacy, as they represent the foundation of the sciences,” says Davies.
Davies was nominated for the award by Professor Frances Richmond. Additional letters of support came from Associate Professor Kathy Rodgers, and a host of graduate students both from his research laboratory and from his regulatory science classes.
In his laboratory, Davies fosters a culture of mentorship by giving his more senior students the opportunity to mentor others as part of their graduate training experience. The Davies lab includes students from high school through doctoral programs.
“I do this because I think that it is important that we capture the interest of our students at a very young age, and that we pass on the responsibilities of sharing our knowledge via mentoring others,” he says.
Davies hopes his emphasis on mentorship both with and among his students will help prepare them for the evolving research climate.
“The role of the scientist is ever-changing, as evidenced by the reduction of boundaries among basic, clinical and patient-oriented researchers,” he says. “I strive to ensure that my students are as prepared and as competitive as possible for this ever-changing environment, as they transition from working under my mentorship to going forward into their next position, and most likely into a role where they take on additional responsibilities as the next generation of educators and mentors.”
Davies was officially recognized by USC in an award ceremony held April 24.
“The university is grateful to those faculty members who promote and embody USC’s culture of mentoring each and every day,” USC said in a statement.