Graduate Student Mentorship Award

The Arts & Letters Graduate Student Mentorship Award, established by Dean Sarah Mustillo in 2022–23, is presented annually to one member of the tenured faculty in the College who has demonstrated outstanding scholarly mentorship of, and professional care for, doctoral or MFA students.

The ideal awardee has a strong and sustained record of extensive graduate mentorship, evidenced by uncommon student success (e.g., graduation rates, publications, and placements). They also have a consistent and extraordinary commitment to developing students as teachers and departmental citizens. To be eligible for nomination, individuals must have been on the faculty at Notre Dame for at least five consecutive years.

2026 Winner: Kasey Buckles

Kasey Buckles is the Quinn and Jean Stepan Family College Professor in the Department of Economics.

During her time at Notre Dame, Buckles has served on 13 completed dissertation committees, chairing or co-chairing seven of them. She’s currently on three dissertation committees, chairing two.

One of Buckles’ favorite aspects about being a professor is that she gets to be a permanent student, learning something new every day. And the learning doesn’t stop when she’s working with graduate students.

“She gives students the freedom to pursue their own interests but steers them in good directions; she pushes students to push themselves, without being pushy; she is warm and caring, while also being incisive and direct. This is a difficult balance to strike.”

Buckles developed the Census Tree, a tool containing over 700 million links of U.S. census records, compiled using a combination of genealogy data, machine learning tools, and other linking methods.

The tool has also become foundational for graduate students’ research. Ph.D. candidate and Buckles mentee Haley Wilbert helped build the Census Tree as a research assistant and has used it in her research, too. Another mentee, Henry Downes ’25 Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor in the University of Georgia’s economics department and has used the tool for his own research.

“She has helped me to become a better version of myself. Her mentorship has been a constant in my life for over five years and has always been a force for good.”

For Buckles, bettering the future of the field, one student at a time, is extremely rewarding.

“I love seeing our graduate students flourish when they leave us,” Buckles said. “As excited as I am about my research, I am very sure that any lasting impact I have is going to come through the students.” 

The Graduate Student Mentorship Award will be presented to Buckles at the College’s fall faculty meeting in September.

Previous Award Recipients

Year	Recipient	Media	Department
2026	Kasey Buckles	News Story	Economics
2025	Laura Knoppers	News Story	English
2024	Michael Rea	News story	Philosophy
2023	Jean Porter	News story, Video	Theology