Throughout the Spring 2025 semester, departments across the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s College of Arts and Sciences submitted nominations for the Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Students and Outstanding Graduate Students.

Lilly Dong, a junior majoring in physics with a concentration in advanced physics, is addressing real-world challenges through impressive, interdisciplinary research. Recently, Dong earned second place in the Physical and Applied Sciences category at the Fall 2024 UAB Expo—a triannual event that celebrates excellence in research, creative activity, and scholarship at the undergraduate level.

Joanna Schmidt likes solving problems. Big, complex, challenging problems.