Skip to main content
UMass Collegiate M The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Search UMass.edu
Graduate School

Main navigation

  • Apply
    How to ApplyAfter you ApplyInternational ApplicantsNon-Degree Students
  • Academics
    Certificate ProgramsMaster's ProgramsDoctoral ProgramsCourses
    See all academic programs
  • Student Support
    Professional DevelopmentAppointments and FellowshipsInclusionFundingPolicies
    New Graduate StudentsGraduate Student GovernmentGraduate Student HandbookGraduate Student Forms & DocumentsResources
  • Faculty & Staff

    Current Faculty and Staff

    Resources for Faculty and StaffProgram AdministrationAdmissionsMentoringCurriculum ChangesForm Library
    Our DeanGraduate Program DirectorsStaff DirectoryGrad Office Contact
  • News & Events
    NewsEventsAnnual Report
    Orientation

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. News & Events

Doctoral Oral Exam Schedule

The Graduate Dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Doctoral Oral Exams for September 1, 2025 – September 5, 2025

Jonathan Flores, PhD., Civil and Environmental Engineering
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 12:00PM, Kellogg Room 118 ELab II. 
Dissertation: “Monitoring River Systems from Space: Insights from Mapping Headwaters, Modeling Discharge, and Detecting Dams.” Colin J. Gleason, Chair.

Hyemin Gu, PhD., Mathematics
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 10:10AM, LGRT 1685. 
Dissertation: “Robust Generative Flows via Wasserstein Proximal Regularizations Based on Gradient Flows and Mean Field Games.” Markos Katsoulakis, Chair.

Thomas Vitalis, PhD., Civil and Environmental Engineering
Thursday, September 4, 2025, 1:00PM, Kellogg Room 118 ELab II. 
Dissertation: “Auxetic Steel Architected Materials for High Confinement of Interpenetrating Reinforced Concrete Composites.” Simos Gerasimidis, Chair.

Mengxue Zhang, PhD., Computer Science
Friday, September 5, 2025, 3:00PM, via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “AI-Driven Analysis, Scoring, and Generation for Open-Ended Mathematical Reasoning.” Andrew Lan, Chair.

Doctoral Oral Exams for August 25, 2025 – August 29, 2025

Mirriam Banda, PhD., Education
Monday, August 25, 2025, 11:30AM, via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “Who Holds the Purse Strings Holds the Power: Navigating the ‘Complexities’ and ‘Realities’ of Early Grade Mobile Learning Integration in Malawi.” Jacqueline Mosselson, Chair.

Avijit Mitra, PhD., Computer Science
Monday, August 25, 2025, 2:00PM, CS 303 and via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “Advancing the Knowledge of Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health Using AI in Health Outcome Research.” Hong Yu, Chair.

Gwangseok Kim, PhD., Communication
Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 11:00AM, ILC S415. 
Dissertation: “Banal Technology, Banal Nationalism: An Actor-Network Theory of Analysis of Public Key Certificates, ActiveX, and Nationalism in South Korea.” Henry Geddes, Chair.

Maylin M. Hernandez, PhD., Political Science
Wednesday, August 27, 2025, 12:00PM, via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “Dialectical Fashion: A Critical Theoretical Investigation.” Adam Dahl, Chair.

Yixiao Song, PhD., Computer Science
Wednesday, August 27, 2025, 10:00AM, CS 303. 
Dissertation: “Advancing AI Factuality via Comprehensive Evaluation.” Mohit Iyyer, Chair.

Kevin Henderson, PhD., Political Science
Thursday, August 28, 2025, 9:00AM, Thompson 420. 
Dissertation: “Beyond the Lavender Meance: Lesbian and Sexual Politics in the National Organization for Women (NOW), 1967-2000.” Sonia E. Alvarez, Chair.

Carla Suarez Vega, PhD., Hispanic Literatures and Linguistics
Thursday, August 28, 2025, 10:00AM, via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “Transicion Precaria: Resistencia Cultural e Intervencion Queer en la Transicion Espanola (1973-1986).” David Rodriguez-Solas, Chair.

Zhuo Han, PhD., Civil and Environmental Engineering
Thursday, August 28, 2025, 11:00AM, 118 ELab II. 
Dissertation: “Data-Driven Strategies for Sustainable Transit and Safer Roads.” Jimi Oke, Chair.

Yuzhen Zhang, PhD., Food Science
Friday, August 29, 2025, 9:30AM, Chenoweth Lab 243. 
Dissertation: “Smartphone- Based Optical Detection for Rapid and Reliable Monitoring of Bacterial Contamination on Food-Contact surfaces.” Lili He, Chair.

Sparsh Makhaik, PhD., Chemistry
Friday, August 29, 2025, 10:00AM, ISB 221. 
Dissertation: “Addressing the Biomedical Relevance of Viral Proteases using Chemical Tools.” Jeanne Hardy, Chair.

Han Jiang, PhD., Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Friday, August 29, 2025, 10:00AM, LSL N410. 
Dissertation: “Mechanobiology of Epithelial Gap Closure.” Yubing Sun, Chair.

Doctoral Oral Exams for August 18, 2025 – August 22, 2025

Irina Orlovsky, PhD., Psychology, Monday, August 18, 2025, 12:00PM, LSL N210. Dissertation: “Age-Dependent Prefrontal Dynamics of Reappraisal Yield Comparable Cognitive Outcomes.” Rebecca Spencer, Chair.

Yi Huang, PhD., Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tuesday, August 19, 2025, 10:00AM, via Zoom. 
Dissertation: “Hardware-Software Co-Design of Memristive Systems for Edge Intelligence.” Qiangfei Xia, Chair.

Matthew Coyne, PhD., Management
Tuesday, August 19, 2025, 1:00PM, ISOM N330. 
Dissertation: “Consumer Psychological Well-Being and Territorial Wine Brands: Exploring Wine Tourism and Wine’s Impact on Lifestyle.” Albert Assaf and Muzzo Uysal, Co-Chairs.

Taylor Guertin, PhD., Molecular and Cellular Biology
Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 10:00AM, ISB 221. 
Dissertation: “Dissecting Early Liver Organogenesis and Placentation: Roles of FGF Signaling, N-Linked Glycosylation, and Insights from Mid-Gestation Lethal Knockout Mouse Models.” Kimberly Tremblay, Chair.

Deicy Carolina Munoz Agudelo, PhD., Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 10:00AM, French Hall 209. Dissertation: “Agricultural Context and Bee Health: Assessing Pesticide Exposure and Interactive Effects with Pathogens and Drought.” Lynn S. Adler, Chair.

Luan Luan, PhD., Astronomy
Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 12:00PM, LGRT 1033.
Dissertation: “Impacts of Stellar Feedback on Galactic Ecosystem: Hierarchical Bayesian Spatially-Resolved Spectral Analyses on X-Ray Diffuse Emission.” Q. Daniel Wang, Chair.

Sam Edward Cutler, PhD., Astronomy
Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 2:00PM, LGRT 1033. 
Dissertation: “Investigating the Origin of Low-Mass Quiescent Galaxies.” Katherine Whitaker, Chair.

Local Navigation Links

News & Events
Doctoral Hooding Live Stream
Master's & Education Specialist Live Stream
Doctoral Oral Exam Schedule
Explore OPD’s Winter Workshop Series

Site footer

Graduate School
  • X
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Find us on YouTube
  • Find us on Instagram
Address

Goodell Hall
140 Hicks Way, 5th Floor
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

Info for...

  • Current students
  • Faculty & staff

Admissions

  • How to apply
  • After you apply
  • International applicants
  • Non-degree students

The Graduate School

  • About
  • Our dean
  • News
  • Events
  • Contact Us

Student Life & Support

  • Professional development
  • Funding
  • Policies
  • Inclusion

Global footer

  • ©2025 University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Site policies
  • Privacy
  • Non-discrimination notice
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of use