Dear UC Berkeley community,
On behalf of UC Berkeley’s Excellence in Advising and Student Services Awards Committee, and the Advising Strategy & Training Program within the Division of Undergraduate Education, we are delighted to announce the recipients of our 2025 Excellence in Advising and Student Services Awards. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of the nominators who took the time to recognize the impactful contributions of our recipients on student learning, engagement, and belonging on the UC Berkeley campus. Congratulations to each of the award recipients on this important achievement. Recipients are invited to our in-person awards ceremony and community celebration.
The entire advising and student services community is invited to join us at the Awards Ceremony & Community Celebration on Wednesday, February 18 from 2:00 – 4:00 in West Pauley Ballroom, where we will honor this year’s awardees and the entire advising and student services community on campus. We look forward to celebrating our ongoing hard work and dedication to supporting students. We also look forward to spending well-deserved time together for some much-needed joy, laughter, music, games, and giveaways! RSVP now to join us for the celebration.
We encourage everyone to add words of gratitude and thanks to individuals and teams within our student services community on our 2025 Kudoboard.
Thank you for making UC Berkeley a better place for students and for all of us.
Sincerely,
Oliver M. O’Reilly (he/him)
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Lisa García Bedolla (she/her/ella)
Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division
Fabrizio Mejia (he/him)
Interim Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion
Stephen C. Sutton (he/him)
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
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2025 Excellence in Advising and Student Services Awards Recipients
Please see the 2025 Excellence in Advising & Student Services Awards webpage for more details, including names of team members.
Advising Innovation
- Mayra Rivera, Associate Director of Advising, Engineering Student Services, College of Engineering
- College of Letters & Science Office of Undergraduate Advising Academic Progress Team
Equity Champion
- Berkeley International Office Student Services Team
- Revae Contreras & Jesselle Hoque, Assistant Directors for Engineering & Physical Sciences, Berkeley Career Engagement
- UC Excelerator Team, UC Berkeley Extension
Excellence in Data/Research-Driven Student Services
- Mikaela Auerbach, IT & SEVIS Manager, Berkeley International Office
- Data Discovery Program Team, College of Computing, Data Science, & Society
- Environmental Science, Policy & Management Graduate Student Affairs Officer Team, Rausser College of Natural Resources
Service to the Advising and Student Services Community
- Denise Yee & Natalie Poulos, Department of Statistics Department Undergraduate Student Services Advisors & Course and Curriculum Officers
- American Cultures Center Team, Division of Undergraduate Education
Outstanding New Advisor or Student Services Staff
- Anna Atkinson, Student Services Advisor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science
- Joy Ahn, Master Programs Advisor, Bioengineering, College of Engineering
- Kathryn Medina-Ghiraldini, Senior College Advisor, College of Letters & Science Office of Undergraduate Advising
- Kayli Minear, Graduate Student Affairs Officer, Department of Architecture, College of Environmental Design
- Rachael Delizo, College Advisor, College of Letters & Science Office of Undergraduate Advising
Outstanding Advisor or Student Services Staff
- Andrea Silas, Senior Financial Aid Counselor & Basic Needs Center Liaison, Financial Aid & Scholarships Office
- Anita Adams, Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship Program Advisor, Financial Aid & Scholarships Office
- Lindsey Villarreal, Graduate Advisor & Policy Analyst, Department of African American Studies
- Michelle Ayazi, Berkeley Study Abroad Advisor
- Miguel Avila, Berkeley Hope Scholars & EOP Program Financial Aid Counselor, Financial Aid & Scholarships Office
- Monica Albe, Integrative Biology Graduate Program Manager
Outstanding Advising or Student Services Administrator, Director, or Manager
- Monica Garcia, Assistant Director of Academic Progress, College of Letters & Science Office of Undergraduate Advising
Outstanding Peer Advisor, Mentor, Counselor, or Ambassador
- Michelle Gallaga, Global Poverty and Practice Minor Peer Advisor
- Sanya Sitlani, Office of Instruction & Student Affairs Peer Advising Leader, Rausser College of Natural Resources
- UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center Food Pantry & Food Recovery Team, Division of Equity & Inclusion
Outstanding Faculty Advisor
- Daniel Portnoy, Distinguished Professor, Departments of Molecular & Cell Biology and Plant and Microbial Biology