Flavio Calmon receives Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising

Flavio P. Calmon, Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has been awarded the 2026 Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising.

The McDonald Award recognizes SEAS faculty members who demonstrate a deep commitment to mentoring, advising, and supporting students and postdoctoral researchers. It is given annually and is based on letters of nomination from students, postdocs, and colleagues.  

In the classroom, Calmon is known for his engagement with students as individuals, often advising them on research directions, graduate school, and career choices in addition to course material. One nominator wrote that “students see him not just as an instructor, but as someone they trust for advice and direction.”

Within his research group, Calmon has created a mentoring environment that is both rigorous and supportive. He provides structure to help students learn how to formulate problems and carry out research, then gradually gives them more independence as they gain experience. One student wrote that “Flavio’s guidance has enabled me to grow tremendously as a young researcher… he patiently guides his students to realize their full potential.”

Calmon, who joined SEAS in 2017, has also received The James L. Massey Research & Teaching Award for Young Scholars from the IEEE Information Theory Society, and a commendation in 2020 from Harvard College's Dean of Undergraduate Education for "extraordinary teaching during extraordinary times."