1:08 p.m., June 18, 2009----Five graduate students in the Department of Economics of the University of Delaware's Lerner College of Business and Economics were honored on Thursday, June 11, for special achievement.

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The graduate awards recognize outstanding performance in research by master's degree and doctoral students in the classroom and as instructors. Each award consists of a plaque and a monetary prize, made possible by generous support from the faculty, alumnae, and the Sally Latham Memorial Fund, which honors the deceased wife of William Latham, professor of economics.

The Graduate Scholar Award is given to a graduating master's student for outstanding academic achievement in the classroom. The 2009 winner of the award is Graham Robinson of Wilmington, Del., where his mother is a federal judge. Graham and his wife and two young children will be moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Graham will continue his education in law school at Brigham Young University.

The Sally Latham Graduate Research Award is given to the graduating student with the best master of arts research paper or master of science thesis. This year's co-winners are Kelley Appleman for her thesis, “Measuring the Recreational Use Value of Migratory Shorebirds,” and Drew Sawyer for his paper, “The Demand for Carbon Emission Intensity vis-a-vis an International Carbon Tax.”

Appleman, of Wilmington, Del., is a doctoral student in resource economics and will continue to work toward that degree. Sawyer, of Holicong, Pa., will begin employment in the Office of the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration.

George Parsons, professor of economics and professor of marine and earth studies, was the faculty supervisor for Appleman's paper. Laurence Seidman, Chaplin Tyler Professor of Economics, supervised Sawyer's paper.

The Sally Latham Dissertation Award is given to the graduating doctoral student with the outstanding dissertation. The 2009 winner is James Markham for his dissertation, “CEO Entrenchment Versus Boards of Directors: Performance Is Not All That Matters to Turnover,” written under the direction of Latham.

Markham previously had the distinction of being the 50th student to complete a Ph.D. in the Department of Economics. He is working as an adjunct instructor at UD while looking for permanent work in the Wilmington, Del., area. His wife is an instructor at Padua Academy in Wilmington.

The Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award is given to a teaching assistant for outstanding teaching performance in the classroom. The 2009 winner is Stela Stefanova, from Bulgaria, who was recognized for her work in teaching introductory microeconomics since the fall of 2005.

Stefanova previously won a University of Delaware Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Students in 2008 and also was an invited participant at the Lindau Conference of Nobel Prize Winners in Economics in August, 2008. She will complete her dissertation this summer and has already begun full-time employment at National Exchange Carriers Association, an economic consulting firm in New Jersey.