Home Navigating Your Degree Oral Defense Dates Oral Defense Dates Peter Hotvedt Program: Nuc Eng & Radiol Sciences Dissertation Title: High-Energy Photon Imaging Analysis, Applications, and Advancements in 3D-CdZnTe Detectors Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: LURIE JOHNSON ROOMS (3231AB) Chair: Zhong He Dechen Zhang Program: Physics Dissertation Title: Unconventional Thermal and Magnetic Responses in Frustrated and Topological Quantum Materials Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: WEST HALL 267B Chair: Lu Li Giovanni Roman Torres Program: Sociology Dissertation Title: Placing The American Dream: Latino Geographic Dispersion, Socioeconomic Well-Being, And Belonging Across the American Landscape Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 500 S. STATE STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109-1382 Chair: Lauren Duquette-Rury and Alexandra Achen Killewald Junghwan Kim Program: Computer Science & Eng Dissertation Title: Representation Learning for Linguistic Style: Method, Interpretation and Applications Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 3725 BEYSTER Chair: David Jurgens Ankit Mathanker Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Molecular-Level Insights into Organic Adsorption and Reactivity at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: NCRC B32 AUDITORIUM Chair: Bryan Goldsmith Can Yaras Program: Electrical & Computer Engineer Dissertation Title: Low-Dimensional Structures of Learning and Computation in Deep Learning Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Location: EECS 3316 Chair: Laura Balzano and Qing Qu Eimeel Carolina Castillo Dona Program: History & Women's & Gender Stu Dissertation Title: Imperial Encounters: Gender Politics in US-Occupied Nicaragua, 1912-1933 Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/94946375271 PW:437706 Chair: Sueann Caulfield Ashley Mello Program: Immunology Dissertation Title: Hypoxia-Mediated Immune Suppression in Pancreatic Cancer Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: ROOM 3330 MEDICAL SCIENCE I Chair: Kyoung Eun Lee and Malini Raghavan Mao Li Program: Survey and Data Science Dissertation Title: The Expressed Public: Political Opinion on Social Media in the Age of Large Language Models Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROOM 1070 Chair: Frederick G Conrad Alexis McCarroll Program: Communication Dissertation Title: Queer Parasocial Attachment: Identity Development and Social Connection Among LGBTQ+ Emerging Adults Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: 5450 NORTH QUAD Chair: Jan Van Den Bulck Abdullah Alwaleedi Program: Movement Science Dissertation Title: Behavioral and Metabolic Health in the Context of Ramadan Fasting Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: SCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY BUILDING (ROOM 2140) Chair: Weiyun Chen Brady Ryan Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Statistical Methods for the Analysis and Interpretation of GWAS Data Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 3755 SPH1 Chair: Michael Lee Boehnke and Jean Morrison Xueting Tao Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 3:00 p.m. Location: SPH1A 2690 Chair: Kelley Kidwell Elizabeth Ledbetter Program: History of Art Dissertation Title: The Visual Poetics of Wonder in the Fatimid World (969-1171 CE) Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/9574384196 Chair: Christiane J Gruber Jiongming Wang Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Statistical Methods for Analyzing Genetic Data in Biobanks Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: 1750 SPH I Chair: Jean Morrison and Sebastian K Zoellner Lei Zhang Program: Civil Engineering Dissertation Title: Characterization of Soil Particle Size Distributions by Water Pressure During Sedimentation Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: GGB 2029 Chair: Roman D Hryciw Hyungchan Cho Program: Business Administration Dissertation Title: Unveiling Operational Performance Levers and the Value of Operational Information Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92589357800 Chair: Damian R Beil and Andrew Wu Keanu Heydari Program: History Dissertation Title: General Intelligence: Iranian Student Activism and the Documentary Politics of Sojourn in France, 1945-1979 Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97754750861?JST=3 Chair: Joshua H Cole Ziqiao Xu Program: Chemistry Dissertation Title: Ultra-fast Drug Screening Enabled by Contrastive Learning on Chemical Spaces Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: CHEM 1706 Chair: Charles L Brooks III Oluka Okia Program: Mechanical Engineering Dissertation Title: Scalable Manufacturing of Laminated Perovskite Solar Cells Date: 30 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: ROOM 3150 HERBERT H. DOW BUILDING, VIRTUAL: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/93496957853 PASSCODE: 925994 Chair: Neil P Dasgupta Sonya Royzenblat Program: Cellular & Molecular Biol Dissertation Title: Peeling Back the Layers of Escherichia Coli Chromatin Architecture Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: BOB AND BETTY BEYSTER BUILDING (KAHN AUDITORIUM) Chair: Lydia Freddolino Daniel Kupor Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Engineering Localized Particle-Based Drug Delivery to Adipose Tissue Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: NCRC B10 RESEARCH AUDITORIUM OR HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/96291737439 PASSCODE: ADIPOSE Chair: Lola Eniola-Adefeso Donia Ahmed Program: Biomedical Engineering Dissertation Title: Engineered Disease Models for Investigating the Role of Extracellular Matrix Cues in Epithelial Cell Fate Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: GM CONFERENCE ROOM – LURIE ENGINEERING CENTER Chair: Brendon Baker and Claudia Loebel Cameron Gruich Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Reliable Machine Learning for Molecules and Materials: From High-Throughput Data to Actionable Uncertainty Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 3:30 p.m. Location: NCRC BUILDING 28 ROOM G126 Chair: Bryan Goldsmith Omar Abed Program: Ind Interdept Degree Prog Dissertation Title: Cytokine Muteins and Targeted Depots for Selective and Localized Regulatory T Cell Expansion Date: 3 Aug 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Location: NCRC B10 – SOUTH ATRIUM, HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/91065082569 Chair: James J Moon and James J Moon Tara Lonsdorf Program: Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertation Title: Climatic and Topographic Controls on Meteoric Waters of the North American Cordillera: New Insights from Stable Isotopes Date: 3 Aug 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: NORTH UNIVERSITY BUILDING, 2540; ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/9732938548?OMN=96072879053 Chair: Nathan A Niemi Xiaping Li Program: Engineering Education Research Dissertation Title: Exploring Course Engagement among Engineering College Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: The Roles of Instructional Practices and GenAI Date: 4 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: THE LURIE ENGINEERING CENTER JOHNSON ROOMS (3RD FLOOR); ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/94300480181 Chair: Cindy Finelli Charlotte Boucher Program: Political Science Dissertation Title: Negotiated Citizenship: Managed Relations with a Violent State Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 10:30 a.m. Location: WALKER, HAVEN HALL Chair: Rob Mickey Lucy Smith Program: English & Women's and Gender S Dissertation Title: Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97576556916 Chair: Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young Lucy Smith Program: History & Women's & Gender Stu Dissertation Title: Circulation, Economy, and Meaning of Teeth in George Washington's America Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97576556916 Chair: Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young Woohyeon Baek Program: Materials Science & Engin Dissertation Title: Size-dependent Thermodynamic and Nucleation-kinetic Insights in Material Formations Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: DOW 2166 Chair: Wenhao Sun Shailaja Humane Program: Applied Physics Dissertation Title: Advancing Inertial Confinement Fusion through Bayesian Optimization and Multi-physics Simulations Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 12:00 p.m. Location: COOLEY BAER ROOM Chair: Carolyn Christine Kuranz Joao De Barro Cavalcanti Program: Aerospace Engineering Dissertation Title: Resource-Aware Adaptive Model Predictive Control for Maneuver Load Alleviation of Flexible and Very Flexible Aircraft Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 1044 FXB (UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92892873542 PC: 1044 FXB (UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92892873542 PC: MPC4ASE) Chair: Carlos E S Cesnik and Ilya Kolmanovsky Contact Academic Records and Dissertations Hours: Academic Records and Dissertations is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The office is closed Saturdays and Sundays and on the following holidays: Thanksgiving (Thursday and the following Friday), Christmas through New Year’s, Memorial Day, Independence Day (July 4), and Labor Day. Location 0120 Rackham Building 915 East Washington Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1070 Contact Phone: 734.763.0171 Fax: 734.936.3335 Email: [email protected]
Peter Hotvedt Program: Nuc Eng & Radiol Sciences Dissertation Title: High-Energy Photon Imaging Analysis, Applications, and Advancements in 3D-CdZnTe Detectors Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: LURIE JOHNSON ROOMS (3231AB) Chair: Zhong He
Dechen Zhang Program: Physics Dissertation Title: Unconventional Thermal and Magnetic Responses in Frustrated and Topological Quantum Materials Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: WEST HALL 267B Chair: Lu Li
Giovanni Roman Torres Program: Sociology Dissertation Title: Placing The American Dream: Latino Geographic Dispersion, Socioeconomic Well-Being, And Belonging Across the American Landscape Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 500 S. STATE STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109-1382 Chair: Lauren Duquette-Rury and Alexandra Achen Killewald
Junghwan Kim Program: Computer Science & Eng Dissertation Title: Representation Learning for Linguistic Style: Method, Interpretation and Applications Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 3725 BEYSTER Chair: David Jurgens
Ankit Mathanker Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Molecular-Level Insights into Organic Adsorption and Reactivity at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces Date: 23 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: NCRC B32 AUDITORIUM Chair: Bryan Goldsmith
Can Yaras Program: Electrical & Computer Engineer Dissertation Title: Low-Dimensional Structures of Learning and Computation in Deep Learning Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Location: EECS 3316 Chair: Laura Balzano and Qing Qu
Eimeel Carolina Castillo Dona Program: History & Women's & Gender Stu Dissertation Title: Imperial Encounters: Gender Politics in US-Occupied Nicaragua, 1912-1933 Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/94946375271 PW:437706 Chair: Sueann Caulfield
Ashley Mello Program: Immunology Dissertation Title: Hypoxia-Mediated Immune Suppression in Pancreatic Cancer Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: ROOM 3330 MEDICAL SCIENCE I Chair: Kyoung Eun Lee and Malini Raghavan
Mao Li Program: Survey and Data Science Dissertation Title: The Expressed Public: Political Opinion on Social Media in the Age of Large Language Models Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, ROOM 1070 Chair: Frederick G Conrad
Alexis McCarroll Program: Communication Dissertation Title: Queer Parasocial Attachment: Identity Development and Social Connection Among LGBTQ+ Emerging Adults Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: 5450 NORTH QUAD Chair: Jan Van Den Bulck
Abdullah Alwaleedi Program: Movement Science Dissertation Title: Behavioral and Metabolic Health in the Context of Ramadan Fasting Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: SCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY BUILDING (ROOM 2140) Chair: Weiyun Chen
Brady Ryan Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Statistical Methods for the Analysis and Interpretation of GWAS Data Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 3755 SPH1 Chair: Michael Lee Boehnke and Jean Morrison
Xueting Tao Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Date: 24 Jul 2026 Time: 3:00 p.m. Location: SPH1A 2690 Chair: Kelley Kidwell
Elizabeth Ledbetter Program: History of Art Dissertation Title: The Visual Poetics of Wonder in the Fatimid World (969-1171 CE) Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/9574384196 Chair: Christiane J Gruber
Jiongming Wang Program: Biostatistics Dissertation Title: Statistical Methods for Analyzing Genetic Data in Biobanks Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: 1750 SPH I Chair: Jean Morrison and Sebastian K Zoellner
Lei Zhang Program: Civil Engineering Dissertation Title: Characterization of Soil Particle Size Distributions by Water Pressure During Sedimentation Date: 27 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: GGB 2029 Chair: Roman D Hryciw
Hyungchan Cho Program: Business Administration Dissertation Title: Unveiling Operational Performance Levers and the Value of Operational Information Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92589357800 Chair: Damian R Beil and Andrew Wu
Keanu Heydari Program: History Dissertation Title: General Intelligence: Iranian Student Activism and the Documentary Politics of Sojourn in France, 1945-1979 Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97754750861?JST=3 Chair: Joshua H Cole
Ziqiao Xu Program: Chemistry Dissertation Title: Ultra-fast Drug Screening Enabled by Contrastive Learning on Chemical Spaces Date: 28 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: CHEM 1706 Chair: Charles L Brooks III
Oluka Okia Program: Mechanical Engineering Dissertation Title: Scalable Manufacturing of Laminated Perovskite Solar Cells Date: 30 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: ROOM 3150 HERBERT H. DOW BUILDING, VIRTUAL: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/93496957853 PASSCODE: 925994 Chair: Neil P Dasgupta
Sonya Royzenblat Program: Cellular & Molecular Biol Dissertation Title: Peeling Back the Layers of Escherichia Coli Chromatin Architecture Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: BOB AND BETTY BEYSTER BUILDING (KAHN AUDITORIUM) Chair: Lydia Freddolino
Daniel Kupor Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Engineering Localized Particle-Based Drug Delivery to Adipose Tissue Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: NCRC B10 RESEARCH AUDITORIUM OR HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/96291737439 PASSCODE: ADIPOSE Chair: Lola Eniola-Adefeso
Donia Ahmed Program: Biomedical Engineering Dissertation Title: Engineered Disease Models for Investigating the Role of Extracellular Matrix Cues in Epithelial Cell Fate Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: GM CONFERENCE ROOM – LURIE ENGINEERING CENTER Chair: Brendon Baker and Claudia Loebel
Cameron Gruich Program: Chemical Engineering Dissertation Title: Reliable Machine Learning for Molecules and Materials: From High-Throughput Data to Actionable Uncertainty Date: 31 Jul 2026 Time: 3:30 p.m. Location: NCRC BUILDING 28 ROOM G126 Chair: Bryan Goldsmith
Omar Abed Program: Ind Interdept Degree Prog Dissertation Title: Cytokine Muteins and Targeted Depots for Selective and Localized Regulatory T Cell Expansion Date: 3 Aug 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Location: NCRC B10 – SOUTH ATRIUM, HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/91065082569 Chair: James J Moon and James J Moon
Tara Lonsdorf Program: Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertation Title: Climatic and Topographic Controls on Meteoric Waters of the North American Cordillera: New Insights from Stable Isotopes Date: 3 Aug 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: NORTH UNIVERSITY BUILDING, 2540; ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/9732938548?OMN=96072879053 Chair: Nathan A Niemi
Xiaping Li Program: Engineering Education Research Dissertation Title: Exploring Course Engagement among Engineering College Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: The Roles of Instructional Practices and GenAI Date: 4 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: THE LURIE ENGINEERING CENTER JOHNSON ROOMS (3RD FLOOR); ZOOM: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/94300480181 Chair: Cindy Finelli
Charlotte Boucher Program: Political Science Dissertation Title: Negotiated Citizenship: Managed Relations with a Violent State Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 10:30 a.m. Location: WALKER, HAVEN HALL Chair: Rob Mickey
Lucy Smith Program: English & Women's and Gender S Dissertation Title: Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97576556916 Chair: Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young
Lucy Smith Program: History & Women's & Gender Stu Dissertation Title: Circulation, Economy, and Meaning of Teeth in George Washington's America Date: 5 Aug 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. Location: HTTPS://UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/97576556916 Chair: Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Mary C Kelley and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young and Jason Randolph Young
Woohyeon Baek Program: Materials Science & Engin Dissertation Title: Size-dependent Thermodynamic and Nucleation-kinetic Insights in Material Formations Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: DOW 2166 Chair: Wenhao Sun
Shailaja Humane Program: Applied Physics Dissertation Title: Advancing Inertial Confinement Fusion through Bayesian Optimization and Multi-physics Simulations Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 12:00 p.m. Location: COOLEY BAER ROOM Chair: Carolyn Christine Kuranz
Joao De Barro Cavalcanti Program: Aerospace Engineering Dissertation Title: Resource-Aware Adaptive Model Predictive Control for Maneuver Load Alleviation of Flexible and Very Flexible Aircraft Date: 6 Aug 2026 Time: 1:00 p.m. Location: 1044 FXB (UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92892873542 PC: 1044 FXB (UMICH.ZOOM.US/J/92892873542 PC: MPC4ASE) Chair: Carlos E S Cesnik and Ilya Kolmanovsky
