The University of Maryland's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice is proud to announce the recipients of the Annual Dr. Anat Kimchi Graduate Student Awards for the academic year 2025-2026. These awards, supported by the Kimchi Family and the Department, serve as a heartfelt tribute to the memory and legacy of Dr. Anat Kimchi, a beloved University of Maryland graduate student in Criminology and Criminal Justice who was tragically killed in 2021.  This endowment memorializes her passion for quantitative empirical research related to racial inequality, recidivism, social justice, or the study of formal institutions of social control.

In this year's selection, we honor the outstanding work of three exceptional graduate students, each making significant contributions to the field of criminology and criminal justice. In making these awards, the Kimchi Family and the Department preserve the memory of Dr. Kimchi’s life and accomplishments.

 The Kimchi Memorial Graduate Student Awardee: Dixin Li

Dixin Li, the recipient of the Dr. Anat Kimchi Memorial Graduate Award, is a CCJS doctoral candidate whose dissertation research focuses on progressive prosecution and institutional change within the criminal justice system. Her work centers on Cook County, Illinois, examining whether prosecutorial reforms under State’s Attorney Kim Foxx have led to measurable shifts in outcomes related to racial equity and incarceration.

Supported by the Kimchi Memorial Graduate Award, Dixin will use this summer to complete major analyses and write the core chapters of her dissertation. Her project represents both a theoretical and empirical contribution to the study of criminal courts and institutional reform. Following graduation, she plans to publish her work as a book and share it with practitioners and researchers committed to justice system reform.

Dixin shared her appreciation, saying, "This is my third time receiving the Kimchi Memorial Award, but it’s the first time I’ve been honored with the main award rather than the travel award. I appreciate this recognition. Throughout my time in graduate school, this support has consistently helped me attend conferences, and now, it’s providing me with summer funding to focus on my dissertation. It truly means a lot to me. As a doctoral candidate pushing through to the finish line, there’s nothing more valuable than this kind of support to help me stay focused on my research. Thank you!"

The Kimchi Memorial Graduate Student Travel Awardee: Guyu Sun

Guyu (Sylvia) Sun, the recipient of the Dr. Anat Kimchi Travel Award, is a CCJS doctoral student researching the public invisibility of formerly incarcerated individuals in China. Her project, Controlled Invisibility: Public Narratives of Formerly Incarcerated People in China, 1978 to 2024, examines how media representations and empirical data intersect to shape public understanding of recidivism and reintegration in a tightly controlled information environment.

Reflecting on the opportunity, Guyu shared: "It is such an honor to receive the Dr. Anat Kimchi Travel Award. I will use this funding to attend the American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting this August. My paper presentation has been accepted in the regular criminology session titled ‘Incarceration and the Long Shadow of Punishment,’ and this travel would not be possible without the support of this award. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to share my work and connect with scholars in this field. This project is also part of the direction I plan to further pursue in my dissertation work, which seeks to contribute to the literature on the collateral consequences of punishment. I also hope that through this line of research, I can help carry forward Dr. Kimchi’s legacy of advancing our understanding of social justice."