The Leatherby Libraries is pleased to announce the 2026 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Research Prize winners! For the third year of this prize, we received applications from students from a variety of graduate programs, including:

    • Juris Doctorate
    • MA Film & Media Studies
    • PhD in Education
    • PhD in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy

This year’s winners were honored at the 2026 Leatherby Library Student Research Prize Ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.

From left to right: Thomas Buchanan, Connor Bogenreif, Khashayar Eshtiaghi, and the prize’s benefactor, Eric Scandrett.

First Place: Connor Bogenreif

Connor won first place and is a doctoral student pursuing a PhD in Education.

You can read about his work here: “Examining Experiences of Search Committee Members for Deans of Colleges of the Arts.”

“I am honored to have my work recognized by the Leatherby Libraries and am grateful for the wonderful host of resources it provides students, researchers, and our Chapman community. Thank you to Eric Scandrett for his support of recognizing graduate research, the library staff for supporting the Chapman community, and to my faculty mentors and peers in my program for inspiring my work as a researcher.”

 

 

Second Place: Thomas Buchanan

Thomas, who is working on his MA in Film and Media Studies, won second place for “Destablizing U.S.-Japan Relations: Nikkatsu Film Noir as Postwar Social Critique.”

“It is an honor to win second place in the Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize. My research seeks to historicize and reinterpret cultural exchange between the United States and Japan through the medium of popular cinema in the 1960s. Receiving recognition for this project is a significant affirmation of the value of interdisciplinary humanities scholarship in an era of alienation, artificial intelligence, and anti-intellectualism. My work would be sorely lacking without the resources housed at the Leatherby Libraries and the support of faculty at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, especially Dr. Emily Carman and Dr. Nam Lee. I am grateful for their mentorship and look forward to continuing to use the resources the Leatherby Libraries offer as my research develops. Thank you!”

 

Third Place: Khashayar Eshtiaghi

Khashayar is working on his PhD in Pharmaceutical Science with an emphasis on Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy. He won third place for “Examining Physicians’ Behaviors Regarding Buprenorphine Prescribing for Opioid Use Disorder.”

“Winning Third Place in the 2026 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize is an honor that highlights the importance of strong information literacy in graduate research. My research relied heavily on the Leatherby Libraries’ databases and research tools to evaluate evidence across clinical, economic, and policy domains. I am grateful for the library’s support in enabling rigorous, impactful scholarship.”

 

 

 

About the Prize:

The Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Research Prize promotes and recognizes excellent research and the practical use of library resources by Chapman graduate students. Eric M. Scandrett, the benefactor of this prize, is deeply integrated into the fabric of the Chapman University community. Eric has made significant contributions to the campus through his involvement with Sodexo catering services, the Town & Gown, and as a legacy donor for the Leatherby Libraries. We sincerely thank Eric for his continued support of this research prize and our graduate students, and for being a valued friend of the Leatherby Libraries. 

The selection committee included the following faculty members and librarians:

  • Hagop Atamian, Associate Professor of Food Science in the Schmid College of Science and Technology
  • Essraa Nawar, Assistant Dean for Library Engagement and Program Initiatives.
  • Victoria Perez, Emerging Library Technologies and Research Librarian at the Leatherby Libraries
  • Ron Steiner, Director of the Pre-Law program and Professor of Political Science at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
  • Elaine Yeung, STEM Librarian at the Leatherby Libraries

Congratulations to all of our winners for their outstanding achievements and inspiring work!