Excellence in Mentoring Awards

Gwynn Thomas is an Associate Professor and founding chair of the Global, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department. Thomas’s work challenges women’s political exclusions in democratic societies. Her research examines how women’s activism in promoting institutional innovations promotes gender equality in states and political parties. She has focused on Latin America, investigating topics that range from mothers’ involvement in politics to the presidency of Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Along with numerous peer reviewed articles, Thomas is the author of Contesting Legitimacy in Chile: Familial Ideals, Citizenship, and Political Struggle, 1970-1990 (2011). She also served as chair of the Global, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department since it was established as a separate department in 2018 through 2023.  

We received an unprecedented seven letters from current and former graduate students in support of Thomas’s nomination for the Mentorship Award. They spoke to her “kindness and generosity” and her “leadership, compassion, and thoughtfulness towards her students.” One former student noted that, “One of Dr. Thomas' most remarkable qualities is her unwavering commitment to nurturing academic excellence and fostering intellectual growth. She consistently challenged me to expand my horizons, refine my critical thinking skills, and articulate my ideas with clarity and precision…” Another remarked on her “incredible blend of encouragement and accountability; it is no wonder she is always in high demand for graduate student supervision.”

The three faculty letters in support of her nomination were equally enthusiastic, especially of her stewardship of the department during a difficult transitional period of growth. “Dr. Thomas is a dedicated but selfless leader whose pivotal role in reviving the Gender Studies Department at UB speaks to her courage and persistence as a feminist committed to those of us invested in gender and sexuality studies . . .” Other faculty praised her support and professionalism during the tenure and promotion process of multiple faculty members. And all the nominators were unanimous that Thomas’s leadership was built on feminist ethics and practice. As one faculty member states, “She has used clarity and honesty to build cooperation and solidarity among our faculty and staff; she has then used that solidarity to help countless students and faculty in difficult situations, to preserve and grow our degree programs and our department, and to foster many faculty members’ careers.”

Megan Iantosca teaches in the Higher Education program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Her research takes a sociological perspective to examine racial, gender and class inequities in both high schools and colleges and how students navigate the transition to postsecondary education. Her most recent work takes a critical eye towards understanding processes of classification in higher education, with the goal of better understanding student ethnoracial and gender identity and how educational researchers can develop better measures to describe these fluid, complex and contested identities. She has published a book with Rutgers University Press and numerous articles in journals such as Sociology of Education, The Journal of Higher Education, Teacher’s College Record and Gender and Education.

Megan values getting her students involved in research in numerous ways, including in the classroom through coursework and by having them get involved in her own research projects. She is currently working on numerous research projects and involving students as researchers and co-authors. She is particularly interested in assisting students navigate the dissertation process. She co-organized and hosted the GSE Dissertation Writing Camp and hosts biweekly writing accountability groups with her doctoral students.

Megan was nominated by PhD candidate Danielle Lewis. Danielle states, "Not only is Dr. Iantosca an excellent mentor to her students but her research truly has an impact on practice and policy that informs access of low-income and students of Color to higher education. She seeks to amplify voices of those who have been historically marginalized and shed light on barriers to the pursuit of social mobility. Dr. Iantosca is resourceful, collaborative, and innovative in her advocacy through research in this space, as evidenced by one of her more recent projects with a college preparatory pipeline program."