A Cal Poly Pomona chemistry professor has been honored for her mentoring work.
Chantal Stieber has won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, which recognizes those who have encouraged “the next generation of innovators” and helped create “a science and engineering workforce that reflects the diverse talent of America,” a university news release states.
Stieber is one of 13 to receive the 2023 award from the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology. Received in January, the honor comes with $10,000 from the foundation.
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She joined Cal Poly Pomona in 2015 and has mentored more than 60 undergraduate, master’s and postdoctoral students, the release states. More than 50% are first-generation college students, and more than 50% are low-income.
Stieber, an inorganic chemist, prepares students for working in industries or doctoral studies and offers them research opportunities.
She and her mentees have published 11 peer-reviewed papers. Stieber’s students have presented 117 posters and 40 verbal presentations at meetings across the nation and earned more than 80 research awards and fellowships, according to the release.
“She has high expectations because she knows you’re capable of doing it,” Cal Poly graduate chemistry student Aaron Gaynes said in the release. “She’s one of the most encouraging mentors I’ve had.”
Former student Caitlyn Isabelle Cruz, now a chemistry doctoral student at UC Irvine, said in the release: “I never saw myself as having the potential to be a scientist … She introduced me to graduate school and from there, I felt secure, for the first time, about what I wanted to do with my life.”
