Across disciplines at Case Western Reserve University, graduate students benefit from faculty who do more than teach—they mentor, challenge, and champion students’ success. Whether through patient guidance, thought-provoking lectures, or one-on-one encouragement, these faculty members are shaping the next generation of scholars and professionals.
Each year, the John S. Diekhoff Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring recognize those who go above and beyond in these roles. Established in 1978, the awards honor their namesake—a beloved professor and administrator who believed deeply in the value of graduate education.
Selected by a committee of graduate students, this year’s honorees are four faculty members whose dedication to students stands out across the university: two for outstanding mentorship, and two for graduate-level teaching.
John S. Diekhoff Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching
Lisa Damato
Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics
When considering Lisa Damato’s career, it’s no question she’s been a trailblazer in nursing science. After attending a 2014 conference alongside collaborator Associate Professor Michael Decker, they garnered attention from the U.S. Air Force for groundbreaking work on sleep and fatigue—a topic applicable to military pilots. The encounter served as a catalyst for creating innovative aerospace educational programs.
Together, Decker and Damato co-developed the School of Medicine’s Graduate Certificate in Aerospace Physiology program in 2023. Domato now leads the newly launched Master of Science in Aerospace Physiology program to provide students with unique career opportunities to help meet the great need for trained personnel. The real-world immersive learning experiences Damato offers her students are “legendary,” involving access to key institutions such as NASA Glenn Research Center and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Now, the associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics will receive the 2025 John S. Diekhoff Award for Graduate Teaching.
As one of her graduate student nominators shared, “Dr. Damato is an inspiring and dedicated professor whose unparalleled expertise in medicine and aerospace physiology not only enriches her teaching but also transforms the learning experience. As a mentor, she takes the time to understand each student’s individual aspirations, providing tailored support while cultivating the confidence and independence needed to excel.”
Damato’s passion for education was shaped by her parents’ lack of opportunities to learn after fleeing Europe in the aftermath of World War II—they survived the war, but were never able to complete nor continue formal education.
Inspired by her parents’ drive and determination, Damato pursued a career in nursing and earned bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in the field. This path solidified her unwavering commitment to teaching and mentoring, blending theoretical knowledge with practical, real-world applications starting with her work at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and progressing into her more recent aerospace focus at the School of Medicine—and at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where she and Decker are serving a six-year temporary appointment as Senior Research Physiologists at the Naval Medical Research Unit through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act.
“I am deeply honored to be chosen for this award,” said Damato. “The feedback I receive from students has the most influence on my approach to teaching, always striving to provide a high-quality educational experience.”
David Matthiesen
Associate Professor Emeritus
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Case School of Engineering
For David Matthiesen, teaching graduate students is about more than conveying the laws of thermodynamics—it’s about meeting each student where they are, helping them grow into colleagues, and revealing the beauty behind even the most complex concepts.
“Each student comes in with a different background,” he said. “My job is to find the right starting point so that no one begins the course already behind.”
That student-centered approach—and his passion for making a notoriously challenging subject accessible—has earned Matthiesen a 2025 John S. Diekhoff Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.
A member of the Case Western Reserve University faculty since 1992, Matthiesen teaches Thermodynamics of Solids—a 500-level required core course for PhD students that also draws master’s students from across disciplines. He adapts his teaching each year, adjusting pace and approach based on students’ needs—and often spends extra time outside class helping students sharpen math skills or translate concepts across fields.
“I remind graduate students that they are already ‘degreed professionals,’” he said. “That makes them my colleagues—and I treat them with the respect they’ve earned.”
Matthiesen, who holds emeritus status but continues to teach, brings to the classroom a wealth of experience—including work as a NASA payload specialist astronaut and a career in materials research. But no matter how far his career has taken him, he always returns to the fundamentals.
“I love thermodynamics,” he said. “It’s elegant, powerful, and everywhere once you know how to look for it.”
That passion fuels both his teaching and research. Matthiesen has studied everything from crystal growth in microgravity to wind energy systems—an area, he notes, rooted in the same principles of heat and energy transfer.
He has a rare gift for translating deep technical content into meaningful understanding. To support students from different academic backgrounds, he shares a “Rosetta Stone” to help translate thermodynamics terminology—and encourages students to treat mistakes, including his own, as essential to learning.
“He makes complex topics understandable without watering them down,” one student nominator wrote. “His enthusiasm is contagious, and his teaching left a lasting impression on me.”
That enthusiasm extends beyond the lecture hall. When students need a break from thermodynamics, he lends them science fiction novels that explore big questions about technology, humanity, and the future—books they often pass along to one another.
“I’m always excited by how they use their curiosity, knowledge and creativity to solve problems,” he said.
John S. Diekhoff Awards for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring
Sarah Bagby
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
When Sarah Bagby accepts new graduate students into her lab, she offers them advice they may not have been expecting: Ask questions, and don’t feel you are letting me down because you don’t already know the answers.
“The entire scientific endeavor depends on being frank with ourselves and each other about what we do and don’t think we know,” said Bagby. “So, not asking about things you don’t understand but think you ought to is really going to get in your way.”
Bagby also tells her students they are bound to make mistakes, or even fail at times. But there’s no shame in that—in fact, it’s an essential part of doing science and a precondition for discovery.
This is one reason she is being awarded the 2025 John S. Diekhoff Award for Graduate Mentoring.
A member of the biology faculty since 2017, Bagby studies how environmental changes affect the structure and function of microbes—and how, in turn, “molecular innovations” in microbes alter the environment. As a participant in the EMERGE Biology Integration Institute, an international collaboration exploring the impact and accelerants of climate change, she has learned much about the workings of a productive research team, and this has shaped her approach to mentoring.
“Dr. Bagby constantly emphasizes the importance of respectful and supportive relationships in scientific teams,” one of her nominators wrote. “Her mentorship style encourages us to ask questions of each other and strengthen our support network, which is a crucial skill not often taught in traditional courses.”
Bagby’s students also expressed appreciation for her personal attention and guidance.
She meets weekly with each of them and, as one nominator wrote, “these meetings are student-driven, allowing us to set the agenda, share progress and ask for help tailored to our individual needs. She communicates with remarkable clarity—often using visual aids like sketches on paper to explain ideas, which she’ll hand over after the meeting for reference.”
Bagby says she is thrilled to be selected for the Diekhoff Award.
“To have my students find such value in their training—well, it’s what you hope for, of course, but you don’t often get to know,” she said. “It feels like a gift I can bring my own good mentors, past and present, as thanks for the time and care they’ve invested in me.”
Divita Mathur
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Approachability is a core value in Divita Mathur’s mentoring philosophy. Recognizing students who need help aren’t always equipped to ask for it, she tries to take notice of what students are reluctant to ask.
“This helps me better understand their needs,” she said, “and adjust my level of engagement to match each mentee’s comfort level.”
For her insight into what helps individual students succeed, Mathur, assistant professor of chemistry at the College of Arts and Sciences, is being honored with the John S. Diekhoff Award for Graduate Mentoring.
Mathur said the award is a “huge honor,” and “the strongest vote of confidence I can ask for in my role as an academic.” She believes a strong mentor-mentee relationship can be transformative for both parties.
“I often reflect on the great academics who have served as my mentors,” she said. “I believe that the qualities my students appreciate in my mentorship are a direct reflection of my mentors’ strengths.”
Mathur focuses on equipping mentees with the tools to solve their own problems, empowering them to develop critical-thinking skills and become more independent.
She works alongside researchers in her lab synthesizing DNA nanoparticles with potential applications in vaccines and gene therapy, using fluorescence microscopy to track how the nanoparticles interact within a cell.
“As my research adviser, she constantly encourages me to be the best version of myself,” a chemistry graduate student wrote in her nomination. “Her kindness pushes me to approach each challenge with a positive mindset.”
That student, who is now guiding newer students in the lab, said she initially struggled in the role, but Mathur modeled how to be an effective mentor, saying Mathur “stepped in to provide advice and modeled how to adjust my communication to better suit their needs.”
In addition to mentoring students in her research laboratory, Mathur is passionate about guiding the chemistry department’s graduate rotation program, which allows incoming PhD students to explore research groups before committing to a specific advisor and project.