Dear Colleagues,
The CPTSC Executive Committee is pleased to announce this year’s Diversity Scholarship Award winners: Gideon Kwashie Kwawukumey ($1,000) and Kalpana Shrestha ($1,000). This recognition honors their dedication, excellence, and commitment to advancing diversity in technical and scientific communication. We look forward to learning more about their work at the 2026 CPTSC conference in Boise, Idaho.
Gideon Kwashie Kwawukumey (he/his) is a broadcast journalist and doctoral candidate of Rhetoric, Writing, and Technical Communication at Virginia Tech. His research examines transnational environmental technical communication, sonic technical communication, multimodal rhetoric, linguistic justice in Technical Communication. His work seeks to expand knowledge production in Technical Communication, Rhetoric, and Writing to include multi-marginalized perspectives. Gideon has received multiple honors including ATTW Amplification Award, CCCC Scholars for the Dream Award, and RSA Gerard Hauser Award.
Kalpana Shrestha (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication at East Carolina University. Her research examines how the design of communication tools and systems shapes access, decision-making, and engagement across academic, technical, and clinical settings. Drawing on justice-oriented and participatory approaches, her work specifically explores how clinical instruments, digital platforms, and AI-supported writing technologies can be designed to foster inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible communication practices that better support multilingual and historically marginalized communities. Her work has been recognized with the CCCC Scholars for the Dream Travel Award and the CFSHRC Nan Johnson Travel Award.
Many congratulations to Gideon and Kalpana on this well-earned honor! Thank you to the CPTSC Diversity Committee reviewers for your support.
Nora K. Rivera
CPTSC Diversity Committee Chair