With philanthropic support, LSI launches new award to recognize the value of outstanding mentorship
Training the next generation of scientific leaders is a central pillar of the U-M Life Sciences Institute’s mission and ethos.
In recognition of the crucial role of mentorship in scientific progress, a new annual award has been established for LSI community members who demonstrate outstanding commitment to encouraging future scientists and exemplify the qualities of an exceptional mentor.
Established through generous gifts from friends of longtime LSI Leadership Council member David Kroin, the Marilyn Kroin Beck Mentorship Award not only pays tribute to his enduring role as a mentor but also honors the memory and remarkable legacy of his mother, Marilyn Kroin Beck.
The inaugural recipient of the Marilyn Kroin Beck Mentorship Award is Laura Haynes, Ph.D., a biochemist in the Ginsburg lab. Haynes leads the lab’s efforts to explore how changes in individual building blocks of proteins affect the protein’s function. Since joining the LSI in 2017, she has mentored three postdoctoral fellows, two graduate students and five undergraduate students, as well as three high school students participating in the LSI’s Aspirnaut Summer Research Internship program.
Mentoring people, training them and treating them as whole people is so central to our job as scientists. But it also makes us better as a team. The students bring new ideas and fresh perspectives that let us think more creatively and accomplish so much more together.
Haynes was selected from among numerous nominees through a rigorous review process by a committee of faculty, students and staff. The committee was impressed by the quality of nominations from faculty, postdoctoral researchers and current mentees speaking to her compassion and expertise as a mentor.
“Laura cares deeply about the wholesale professional development of mentees at all levels,” said Matthew Holding, Ph.D., an evolutionary biologist who collaborates with Haynes in the Ginsburg lab. “Her prowess and patience at the bench are complemented by an enthusiastic and open spirit in her communication that has led to productive learning experiences for all involved.”
“I am thankful I have had Laura to look to as an example of an excellent researcher and mentor, as she demonstrates integrity, curiosity and empathy in everything she does,” added Hannah DiGiovanni, an undergraduate student mentored by Haynes in the Ginsburg lab.
As the recipient of this award, Haynes will receive a monetary award to support her research and professional development.
“I’m so honored to receive this award and see how my colleagues view me as part of our team,” Haynes says. “And it really is a whole-team effort. My colleagues and I have developed ways to unite our scientific approaches that incorporate undergraduate and high school students in meaningful ways, and David [Ginsburg] has always exemplified what it means to be a great mentor, which motivates all of us to do the same.”
“Mentoring people, training them and treating them as whole people is so central to our job as scientists” she adds. “But it also makes us better as a team. The students bring new ideas and fresh perspectives that let us think more creatively and accomplish so much more together.”