The Department of Religious Studies held it’s annual E.P. Adler Awards Reception on May 11th at Old Brick in Iowa City.
The E.P. Adler Awards Reception is held to honor the memory of E.P. Adler, one of the department's founders. This event was established and endowed through the generosity of the late Philip and Henrietta Adler, with ongoing support provided by the family of Lloyd and Betty Schermer.
We wish to thank Lloyd and Betty Schermer for their generosity which has enabled this event to continue for over 50 years. Along with them, and all our generous donors who support the Department of Religious Studies, this reception is made possible. The student educational experience is enhanced by these awards each year and it’s made possible by the continued commitment of our donors.
Congratulations to each one of our awardees, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
2026 awardees
Michelene Pesantubbee Religion and Social Justice Scholarship
This award honors the memory of Dr. Pesantubbee (1954-2021), who was a professor of Native American Religious Traditions in the Department of Religious Studies. This award is for a student paper or community project that illuminates some aspect of the relationship between religion and social justice/injustice, especially as it relates to Native American rights and concerns.
Awardee
Collin Tewes wrote a strong paper exploring the ways in which Christian biblical theology was used by many European-American religious leaders, from the 16th to 18th centuries, to provide divine sanction for the systematic displacement, killing, containment, and assimilation of Native Americans.
E.P. Adler Award
Established by Betty and Lloyd Schermer to honor Betty’s grandfather, E.P. Adler, one of the department’s founders, and awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student in the Department of Religious Studies.
Awardee
Shahla Shahreen merits recognition for exceptional perseverance under complex personal and structural pressures, including family responsibilities across two states and the uncertainties faced by international students. While fulfilling her role as a teaching assistant, she has reoriented her focus to make meaningful academic progress, reflecting notable resilience, commitment, and maturity.
E.P. Adler Undergraduate Award
Established by Betty and Lloyd Schermer to honor Betty’s grandfather, E.P. Adler, one of the department’s founders, and awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student in the Department of Religious Studies.
Awardee
Liv Leman was nominated by Professor Ahmed Souaiaia, who shares that her course performance in "Women and Islam in the Middle East" was outstanding. Her engagement in class discussion was consistent and contributed meaningfully to the learning of everyone in the class.
Alice Marguerite Blough Award
Established in 1994 with a gift from the Estate of Alice Marguerite Blough in memory of her parents, Rev. Albert P. Blough and Estelle M. Blough, and awarded for the best graduate student research paper.
Awardee
Carlos Ruiz Martinez is awarded this for his exceptional dissertation, which Professor Supp-Montgomerie called, "the most original and important dissertation" she has read. His research on the shifting relationship between U.S. immigration agencies and religious institutions and people reveals an evolving—if surprising—collaboration in which religious organizations fill the wide gaps between what immigration policy demands and what federal immigration agencies are able to provide. Through thoughtful ethnographic interviews, a wealth of professional experience, and profoundly insightful archival research, Dr. Ruiz Martinez illuminates the impact of lived religion in the U.S. on Latinx migration experiences and U.S. history and how immigration policy and enforcement likewise shape religious cultures here and abroad.
John P. Boyle Award in Catholic Studies
Established in 1998 in honor of John P. Boyle who served as a professor in the Department of Religious Studies from 1972-98, and director from 1979-89. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies, based on academic excellence and outstanding work in some area of Catholic Studies.
Awardee
Allison Isidore is writing an insightful dissertation on the ways in which Black and White Catholic nuns contributed uniquely to the Civil Rights Movement by variously enacting their religious, racial, and gender identities in the promotion of greater social justice. The department also celebrates the creative and sustained work that Allison has put into undergraduate recruitment through the staging of community-building educational events. Allison is also serving as the Program Chair for the fall E.P. Adler Graduate Student Conference: Honoring the Past.
Pres. and Mrs. Eugene Gilmore Scholarship
Established in 1985 to support the study of culture, humanistic values, and the quest for new symbols in contemporary culture. This award was named for Eugene Gilmore, past president of the University of Iowa and supporter of the department. This award is given to a doctoral student in religious studies who has an interest in the relationship of religion and culture, especially the visual arts.
Awardee
Ezekiel (Lanfu) Yang is engaged in some very innovative research which investigates the ways in which Generation Z in China (people born between 1997 and 2012) reinterprets traditional sacred practices, and is inventing new modes of religiosity -mostly phone or computer based- in response to the multifaceted challenges of living in a modernized, digitized, and post-utopic (disenchanted) China. He is soon on his way to China where he will be doing field research, and we expect a very insightful and even ground-breaking dissertation.
Helen Goldstein Undergraduate Research Paper/Project Award
This award was established in 2012 to honor Dr. Helen Goldstein, who specialized in medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy, and is given to the best undergraduate student research paper or project.
Awardee
Emily Waddle was nominated in recognition of the support she provided Professor Cates this past fall as a Research Assistant for a project concerning religion and the ethics of human genetic engineering. Her independent research, problem-solving, and enthusiasm were invaluable. Shifting from ethics at the beginning of life, in the fall, to ethics at the end of life, this spring, Emily also prepared and presented a terrific research poster showing what a difference a person’s religious and cultural background can make to their understanding of what death is and when we can be confident that a person—not simply a brain or a body—has died.
Alice Lampe Heidel and John B. Heidel Memorial Award
Established in memory of M. Willard Lampe, the founding director of the department and Mrs. Heidel's father; honors a graduate teaching assistant whose commitment to undergraduate teaching is evidenced by the outstanding performance of assigned teaching duties, and exceptional interest in and service to undergraduate students.
Awardee
Oscar Fwangmun Danladi is awarded this award to recognize his exceptional work as a TA in the Rhetoric Department. He has been so successful there that they selected him as a Rhetoric PDP co-leader for the fall 2025 semester, through which he helped train the new Rhetoric TAs. He is a valuable and thoughtful educator, and his students are immensely fortunate to work with him! We look forward to having his as a TA in Religious Studies in the Fall.
Karl Hoffman Award
This award goes to an outstanding junior religious studies major who exhibits academic excellence, the strength of character, and a broad and conscientious concern for ultimate and spiritual questions.
Awardee
Jared Hutson was nominated by Prof. Jenna Supp-Montgomerie, who shares that Jared was a leader in both “US Public Life and Religion” this past fall and “Sacred Water” this spring. He brought a depth of focus and intelligence into class discussions in a way that is rare and greatly valued. He was unafraid of wrestling with difficult texts and offered insightful readings of them that easily matched work that Dr. Supp-Montgomerie has seen in graduate students.
M. Willard Lampe Scholarship Fund
Established in 2016 to honor the first Director of the School of Religion, this scholarship will fund a graduate student whose scholarship is likely to engage the public in ways that recognize and acknowledge diverse religious beliefs and foster religious tolerance.
Awardee
Tucker Gregor was nominated by Professor Cates, who says that Tucker’s dissertation argues for a subtle understanding of human vulnerability that promises to advance the virtuous practice of love and justice in social situations that are marked by political polarization. The department honors Tucker also for his generous and sincere mentoring of other graduate students and for his creative contributions to the intellectual life of the department through event programming.
Barbara W. and Rex Montgomery Award
Prof. Rex Montgomery was a long-time supporter of the department and past president of the Advisory Board. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies based on academic merit.
Awardee
Hasan Degerli is about to defend his dissertation, entitled "Transforming Victory: The Spread of the Cult of the Soldier Martyrs in Late Antique Asia Minor and Egypt," with the support of a Ballard & Seashore grant from the Graduate College. He is also receiving a Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities, and has already published a companion website for his dissertation which he accomplished as a summer fellow at the Digital Scholarship and Publishing Studio. This groundbreaking study explores the development of an important type of saint, namely the Roman soldier who is martyred under a pagan empire, at the very time that the Empire had adopted Christianity and was gradually integrating it within the army. Hasan will be joining Bingöl University in Turkiye as an assistant professor in the History of Religions this fall.
Barbara W. and Rex Montgomery Undergraduate Award
Prof. Rex Montgomery was a long-time supporter of the department and past president of the Advisory Board. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies based on academic merit.
Awardee
Tara Livermore was nominated by Professor Brandon Dean who celebrates Tara’s stellar academic performance across multiple courses of his, including “Gods and Superheroes,” “Medieval Religion and Culture,” and “Religion and Contemporary Popular Culture.”
Rev. Louis P. Penningroth Scholarship
Established by Rev. Penningroth's wife to honor her husband, this award goes to a graduate student who demonstrates concern for fellow students through her or his teaching practices and skills as a mentor.
Awardee
Mark Hartsgrove Mooers despite balancing full-time employment and a Rhetoric TAship, Mark maintained outstanding academic momentum. He successfully completed his comprehensive examinations in the fall and continues to make steady progress toward defending his dissertation prospectus this spring. His discipline, productivity, and scholarly focus exemplify doctoral-level excellence and professional resilience.
Sonia Sands Scholarship Award
This scholarship was established in 1982 from donations to honor Sonia Sands, housemother of the Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity for over 20 years. The award recognizes talented students in the area of Jewish studies.
Awardee
Brianna Bohling-Hall was nominated by Professor Supp-Montgomerie and by Professor Cates. Dr Supp-Montgomerie says that Brianna did an extraordinary job in “Religion and Public Life” class and regularly brought needed attention to Jewish frameworks and contexts in US religious history, including a beautiful final project on the Haredi community in Postville. Prof. Cates would like also to recognize Briana’s remarkable senior project for which she has earned Honors in the Major. It includes a meticulously organized, detailed, actionable database on missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada. It includes also a descriptive Honors Thesis. Brianna presented this research at the Iowa Human Rights Research Conference and at the Spring Undergraduate Research Festival. We are excited that Brianna will be attending graduate school this fall at the University of Washington.
Charles Schoen Interfaith Scholarship Award
This scholarship honors the late Charles Schoen, who served on the department’s Advisory Board for eleven years. The award is given to an undergraduate religious studies major, based on the student's academic record.
Awardee
Jenna Brandes who was nominated by Professor Souaiaia, who shares that Jenna demonstrated exemplary commitment and discipline in his course,” Women in Islam and the Middle East.” Her consistent attendance, sustained attentiveness, and thoughtful participation—marked by incisive questions and well-reasoned contributions—reflected the highest standards of undergraduate academic engagement in Religious Studies. Jenna also presented a cool research poster at the Spring Undergraduate Research Festival.
Robert and Mary Ann Small Stenger Religious Studies Scholarship
This scholarship was established in 2014 by a department alumna to provide support to a graduate student in religious studies.
Awardee
Osamamen Oba Eduviere was nominated by Kristy Nabhan-Warren. who says, "As Osamamen’s mentor and advisor, I have been deeply impressed with her strong work ethic, her vision, and her plans to write what I am confident will be an excellent dissertation. Her dissertation project, “Religion and Food in the Lives of Nigerian Immigrants, Uptown Chicago” will make important contributions to our understanding of African immigrant women and their communities, and the role of religion in their efforts to make homes in the United States. The focus of Osamamen’s research is in the Uptown area of Chicago, an African immigrant part of the city where Nigerians in particular have settled since the 1960s."