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Tomas Galvez, who completed his Physics PhD in the Summer 2019 term, has been awarded the 2018-19 Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching awards for Graduate Students. 

Known for his infectious laugh and enthusiasm, Tomas worked as a Teaching Assistant in both upper and lower level physics courses throughout his graduate program. His passion for both science and teaching, ability to inspire undergraduate students, and extraordinary level of commitment to his TA work were continually recognized by the faculty and students he worked with. As nominator Levon Pogosian puts it, 鈥淭hose who know him would likely agree if I called him a phenomenon.鈥�

Galvez approached teaching by treating students as his equals, helping them to think critically and creatively by facilitating discussions about fundamental questions without judgement. 鈥淚n the words of Levon Pogosian, 鈥楾Aing keeps you sharp and prepared for a variety of questions鈥�,鈥� Galvez energetically shares. 鈥淭he input from students interested in expanding their knowledge is very valuable. It is a nice symbiosis, and it is rewarding to find that our discussions are useful in the learning process.鈥�

In May 2019, Tomas successfully defended his PhD thesis "Cosmological and astrophysical observables from field theory in curved backgrounds" under the supervision of Dr. Andrei Frolov. He is now working in collaboration with Dr. Leo Stein in Numerical Relativity as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at The University of Mississippi. Galvez intends to keep a strong collaborative bonds with Dr. Frolov as a member of the ongoing Simons Collaboration.