Graduate students Ken Kostenbader and Emily Atieh were both awarded the Van Dyke Award for Excellence in Research during the Rutgers Graduate Student Awards Ceremony. Both Ken and Emily are third year Ph.D. candidates.

The Van Dyke Award recognizes full-time graduate students that show excellence in their Ph.D. research. Francis C. Van Dyke was appointed Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Queens (later Rutgers) College in 1871. Over a long career here, he taught physics, botany, and physiology, as well as chemistry, and served as Dean of the College from 1901-1913. The Van Dyke endowment was set up with funds from a bequest by Prof. Van Dyke's niece.