Duncan and Nordlund Recognized for Contributions to Graduate Education

Each year the Graduate Student Council selects recipients for the Wilson-DeBlois and Bates-Clapp awards as a way to honor and thank staff members who have made outstanding contributions to graduate education at Brown. Marlina Duncan, Associate Dean of Diversity Initiatives and Assistant Vice President for Academic Diversity, receives the Wilson-DeBlois award. Carrie Nordlund,

Wilson-DeBlois award Bates-Clapp award

Duncan Duncan was selected for her unwavering support and commitment to doctoral students, specifically for helping to create a positive and supportive community. The Graduate Student Council shares, “She has been instrumental in supporting graduate students of color and helping them broadly handle the complications of student life.”

Duncan was excited to be recognized for the work she loves to do. “I believe a life is not important, except in the positive impact it has on others, and I am glad my work helps to improve the graduate school experience for our students,” she says.

Her award commemorates the first recipients of Doctor of Philosophy degrees at Brown in 1889, George Grafton Wilson and Austen K. DeBlois.

A strong advocate for master’s students, Carrie Nordlund is praised for her recruitment efforts, excellent advising, and leadership of the Global Policy Experience trip for MPA students.

Her “emphasis on diversity and intellectual curiosity within graduate student recruitment is of great benefit to the Watson Institute community,” share her nominators.

Nordlund says, “this award is a special honor because it comes from students who motivate, educate and inspire me. I also feel a special kinship to Louise Bates and Lucia Clapp as an alumna of Brown's Graduate School (A.M. '02, Ph.D. '06).”

The award is named for the first women to receive master’s degrees at Brown University, Louise Prosser Bates and Lucia Maria Clapp.