The Hannah Croasdale Award for academic excellence is awarded annually to the graduating Ph.D. recipient who best exemplifies the qualities of a scholar. This individual possesses personal qualities of intellectual curiosity, dedication, and commitment to the pursuit of new knowledge and to teaching, as well as a sense of social responsibility to the community of scholars.
This award is named in honor of Professor Hannah T. Croasdale who studied and taught for more than 40 years in what is now our Department of Biological Sciences. She began at Dartmouth in 1935, worked her way up through the ranks, and retired at the rank of full Professor in 1971. She pioneered the role of women faculty at Dartmouth by being the first woman to move through the ranks to the level of full Professor. Even after retirement, she continued to teach phycology as Professor Emerita for six years. Her distinguished career has been recognized by numerous honors including a summer graduate student fellowship named in her honor by the Phycological Society of America. Professor Croasdale attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a B.S. in 1928, an M.S. in 1931, and a Ph.D. in 1935. Professor Croasdale passed away on July 27, 1999 at the age of 93.
The recipient is selected by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Only one nomination per Department.