Awards

The University of Connecticut recognizes the outstanding contributions and achievements its faculty, students, and staff through numerous awards. For more information, please see below.

Philip E. Austin Endowed Chair

Philip E. Austin was the 13th president of the University of Connecticut (UConn), serving from 1996 to 2007. During his presidency, UConn experienced tremendous growth, driven by the UConn 2000 program and expanding enrollment. President Austin led the university through a dramatic transformation, a five-fold growth in the endowment, an increased reputation for academic excellence, national athletic success and many other points of pride. President Austin led the university's transformation into its present status as a leading public university in the nation.

At the time of his (first) retirement, a group of alumni and supporters created the Philip E. Austin Endowed Chair (the Austin Chair) to recognize President Austin’s many contributions to the university, and to honor his many years of leadership and service. Faculty who hold the chair will continue Dr. Austin’s legacy of excellence, working to further elevate UConn’s national prominence in the areas of policy-relevant research, public engagement, interdisciplinary scholarship, and student engagement.

The Austin Chair is rotating and the term of the current holder of the chair ends on June 30, 2021. This call for applications will be for the next Austin Chair, which will begin on July 1, 2021. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on May 5, 2021.

Eligibility and Call for Applications

The Austin Chair is awarded to a tenured associate or full professor in either the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or the Neag School of Education who has a distinguished record in both policy-relevant research (for example in social, education, health, housing, environmental, criminal justice, or other salient policy areas) and public engagement (work that is highly visible and relevant to both scholarly and lay audiences).

The Austin Chair may be selected as part of a national search to bring new talent to UConn or internally among existing tenured faculty as part of a larger University strategy to keep our best talent here at UConn. In consultation with the deans in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Neag School of Education, we have decided that the next Austin Chair will be selected from an internal search. The details of this process are outlined below.

A faculty member who wishes to be considered for appointment to hold the Austin Chair will submit the following materials to provost@uconn.edu no later than 5 p.m. on May 5, 2021.

A narrative (no longer than 3 pages) explaining how their scholarship directly supports the intent of the Austin Chair, the relevant contributions they have made while at UConn, and the specific contributions would expect to make as the Austin Chair that would advance policy-relevant research, public engagement, interdisciplinary scholarship, and student engagement at UConn.
An abbreviated CV (no longer than 4 pages) that makes apparent:
- Current service as a tenured associate or full professor at UConn
- Major policy-related research and scholarly achievements, including prizes and awards
- Public engagement and outreach accomplishments
- Interdisciplinary accomplishments
- Student engagement accomplishments

Two letters of endorsement from eminent scholars, with at least one from outside of UConn, that address the impact of their work at a National/International level with specific relevance to the goals of the Austin Chair as stated above.

Funding

The incumbent will have access to the interest generated from the endowment. The endowment’s current value is $1.5 million, which generates approximately $60,000 per year for the Austin Chair holder to advance their scholarly work. These funds are available for a wide range of research costs which can include support of research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, incumbents are expected to use funds to enhance the impact of their work by promoting it to external audiences.

Term

The term of the Austin Chair is three years. At the end of the second year, the incumbent may request consideration for a second consecutive term. In this case, the Provost will appoint a committee to conduct a review and make a recommendation regarding renewal. The Provost will make the final decision whether to renew the appointment or solicit new candidates. An individual may hold the chair for a maximum of two terms.

Selection Process

Previous Chairs

Provost’s Outstanding Service Award

The Provost’s Outstanding Service Award is designed to honor and recognize those who have demonstrated excellence in service to the University of Connecticut that far exceeds reasonable expectations of their positions. The award will honor faculty whose volunteer service (i.e., not that assigned as part of one’s job description or expectations in teaching, research or assigned service) is exemplary in enhancing the University’s mission in teaching, research, service, or engagement.

By honoring such individuals, the University demonstrates its commitment to service as an activity essential to its mission and to its governance, provides incentive for faculty to pursue activities that enhance the quality of their service, and emphasizes the importance of outstanding service.

Call For Nominations

Submission Procedure

Nominations are due to provost@uconn.edu by Friday, March 12, 2021.

Nomination Materials

One Letter of Nomination that details in what ways the faculty member has made long-term and extraordinary service contributions to the University in committees and/or University volunteer activities.
List of the Service Contributions the nominee has made to the University, with various kinds of service distributed among categories.
A minimum of two additional Letters of Support (in addition to the Letter of Nomination) from persons who have the ability to judge the significance of the nominee’s service contributions. We recommend at least one letter come from outside the nominee’s department or college/school to demonstrate the breadth of the nominee’s service.

Eligibility and Award Details

The nominee must be a current UConn faculty member who has been employed at UConn for at least five years
Previous recipients are not eligible
Self-nominations will normally not be accepted
Normally, there will be up to two awards each year

Awards Committee

Strong contributors to University Service, including one person who has been a past Service Award recipient.

Recipients

Provost’s Awards for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship

Community-Engaged Scholarship is integral to the academic endeavor and to the institution-wide mission of a land-grant university. Such scholarship arises from the involvement of members of the university community in the academically relevant work of discovery, creativity, integration, teaching, application, and engagement in a context of collaboration and reciprocity with the community (local, regional/state, national, or global) to create conditions for the public good, culminating in sustainable change and dissemination of these activities.

Each awardee will be recognized for their exemplary work in Public Engagement and will:

Receive an appropriately inscribed plaque.
Have their name engraved on the Plaque of Awardees, located in the Office of the Provost, Gulley Hall.
Be featured in future special feature articles and highlights through other UConn communication platforms and external news sources.

This award recognizes faculty, staff, student, and community efforts. Self-nominations are not allowed.

Nominations are due by 5 p.m., March 26, 2021. Please contact amanda.pitts@uconn.edu with any questions.

2019 Provost's Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholars

Seated from Left to Right: Laura Rodriguez(NRCA Team), Jason Vokoun(NRCA Team), Laura Cisneros(NRCA Team), Jonathan Simmons(NRCA Team), Amy Cabaniss(NRCA Team)

Standing from Left to Right: Emily Wilson(NRCA Team), Nicole Freidenfelds(NRCA Team), Jeremy Pressman(Tenure Faculty), Laura Brown (NNT Faculty), Michael Willig(NRCA Team), Vice Provost John Volin(NRCA Team), Olasubomi Ajayi (UG Student), Provost John Elliott, Marisol Ramos(Staff), Tracy Rittenhouse(NRCA Team), Carol Ann Jackson(Adv Degree Student), Cary Chadwick(NRCA Team)

2019 Recipients

RECIPIENTS

Olasubomi Ajayi '21
Department of Allied Health Sciences
College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources
Undergraduate Student

Laura Brown
Department of Extension
College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources
Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Carol Ann Jackson '20
Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Advanced Degree Student

Natural Resources Conservation Academy
Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources
Career Recognition for Team

Jeremy Pressman
Department of Political Science
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Tenure Track Faculty

Marisol Ramos
Digital Scholarship, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian
UConn Library
Full-Time Staff

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Award

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor is the highest honor that the University bestows on faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service.

Board of Trustees Distinguished Professors

2020

Pamir Alpay – Materials Science and Engineering
Katharina von Hammerstein – Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
C. Michael White – Pharmacy Practice

2019

Emmanouil N. Anagnostou – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michael P. Lynch – Philosophy and Humanities Institute
Cathy Schlund-Vials – English and Asian/Asian American Studies

2018

Regina Barreca – English
Miguel Gomes – Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
Peter Luh – Electrical and Computer Engineering

2017

Sandra Chafouleas - Educational Psychology
Patrick Hogan - English
Sanguthevar Rajasekaran - Computer Science & Engineering

2016

Frank Costigliola – History
John Mathieu – Management
Krishna Pattipati – Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael Willig – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

2015

Jc Beall – Philosophy
Blair T. Johnson – Psychology

2014

Scott Brown – Educational Psychology
Nancy Naples – Sociology
Kathleen Segerson – Economics

2013

Mark Boyer – Political Science
Linda Pescatello – Kinesiology

2012

Lynne Healy – Social Work
Kent Holsinger – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

2011

Carl Maresh – Kinesiology
John B. Morris – Pharmacology and Toxicology

2010

Jeffrey D. Fisher – Psychology
Harry A. Frank – Chemistry
J. Peter Gogarten – Molecular & Cell Biology

2009

Gregory J. Anderson – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Diane Jane Burgess – Pharmaceutical Sciences
Diane C. Lillo-Martin – Linguistics

2008

Richard F. Bass – Mathematics
Cheryl Tatano Beck – Nursing
Dipak K. Dey – Statistics

2007

Michael Neumann – Mathematics
John Salamone – Psychology
Sandra Weller – Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, UConn Health

2006

Janine Caira – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Joel Kupperman – Philosophy
Sally Reis – Educational Psychology

2005

Brenda Murphy – English
Peter Setlow – Molecular Microbial & Structural Biology, UConn Health
C. F. Sirmans – Finance
Bette Talvacchia – Art & Art History

2004

William Fitzgerald – Marine Sciences
Bahram Javidi – Electrical & Computer Engineering
James Marsden – Operations & Information Mangement
Lawrence Raisz – Center for Osteoporosis, UCHC
Howard Tennen – Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatric Institute, UConn Health

2003

Deborah Fein – Psychology
Debra Kendall – Molecular & Cell Biology
Gary English – Drama
Philip Marcus – Molecular & Cell Biology
Robert Weiss – Chemical Engineering, IMS

2002

Yaakov Bar-Shalom – Electrical & Computer Engineering
Richard D. Brown – History
David Kenny – Psychology
Alexandros Makriyannis – Pharmacy
William Stwalley – Physics

2001

David Benson – English
Robert Colwell – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Ruth Millikan – Philosophy
Steven Suib – Chemistry
John (Jack) Veiga – Management

2000

Bruce Stave – History
Howard Lasnik – Linguistics
Joseph Renzulli – Educational Psychology
Lynn Bloom – English
Michael Turvey – Psychology
Stanley Biggs – Accounting

Call for Nominations

Annually, the University recognizes outstanding faculty as Board of Trustees Distinguished Professors. Candidates must excel in all three areas of research, teaching, and public engagement. This award includes a $2,500 one-year stipend to be used by each recipient to further their professional activities.

Nomination process

All individuals for this distinction must be nominated by one (or more) faculty or administrator via a single nomination letter. The Selection Committee requests that previous nominations be updated each year, ensuring documentation and materials are current and accurate. Self-nominations are not accepted.

Please note, we have revised our nomination process to two phases, where external letters are not requested in the initial nomination. The committee will review the materials of initial phase nominees and invite a select group to advance as finalists, at which point external letters will be requested.

Phase 1 nominations:

A cover letter with a brief overview of the candidate’s qualifications for the award.
A three-page Summary of Qualifications. This summary must dedicate one page to discussion of the nominee’s research/creative endeavors, one page to teaching, and one page to public engagement and service activities. Any nominations not in compliance with this format will be returned to the nominator(s) for revision.
- To assist in preparing your nomination, the Selection Committee’s criteria are described in the Selection Criteria section of this page. To assist the committee in their review of nominations, please follow the criteria specified in each of the three areas.
An updated CV that includes all publications and creative endeavors. Citations for journal articles, books, and other publications should include all authors, full titles, and applicable page numbers. For creative works such as exhibitions, curated exhibitions, performances, and musical compositions, date and venue should be included.

Please send your complete set of first-round nomination materials, as one complete PDF file, to provost@uconn.edu. The nomination packet should be single spaced, formatted for standard (8.5” x 11”) paper with one-inch margins on all sides, and Times New Roman 12 font. In the newly adopted two-phase process of nominations, first-phase nomination materials should not include any letters of recommendation. Any submissions containing such materials in the first-round submission will be returned so that the letters can be removed. This ensures that all first-round evaluations are made on the basis of the same set of materials for each candidate. The Office of the Provost will acquire Student Evaluations of Teaching data from the past seven years for all applicants.

Dossiers sent with multiple files will be returned for resubmission in the correct format as a PDF.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact provost@uconn.edu.

Deadline: Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Phase 2 finalists:

Candidates selected as finalists will be notified by December 20, 2020, of the need to solicit reference letters. The deadline for these letters and any other materials requested by the selection committee for this pool of finalists will be February 19, 2021.

Finalists will be asked to submit letters of reference from up to six referees. Normally, no more than two referees should be from close colleagues, collaborators or former students. At least one of the individuals should be qualified to focus on formal teaching and may be an internal UConn reference. The remaining referees should be individuals external to the University, who have a national/international reputation and are familiar with the nominee’s work. No more than six letters will be incorporated into the review file. Please note that the Committee reserves the right to request additional letters from UConn faculty, department heads, or deans to assist with their deliberations.

Updated: September 28, 2020

Selection Criteria

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor is the highest honor that the University bestows on faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service, outreach, and public engagement. To be eligible, candidates must have attained the rank of Professor.

This award is for faculty who have spent at least 10 years of their career at UConn. Nominees should be actively engaged scholars, who excel in all three areas of teaching, research, and service, outreach, and public engagement. Evidence for these should include the following:

Teaching

Undergraduate and graduate courses taught during the past seven years (including course title and credit hours for each). The Office of the Provost will acquire Student Evaluations of Teaching data from the past seven years for all applicants.
Other evaluations or evidence of excellence in teaching with supporting documentation.
Data on positions and activities of former graduate students.
Evidence of national and international presentations.
Collaborative publications with students or evidence of mentoring.
Teaching innovations, awards, and special recognitions.

Research and Creative Works

Outstanding scholarly productivity and creative works demonstrated by an international or national reputation in his/her field.
Evidence of engagement in scholarship (e.g., ongoing research, conference presentations, seminars, lectures, scholarly publications).

Service, Outreach, and Public Engagement

Service to the University and outreach to the community, the state, and at the national and international level, including service to the candidate’s academic profession, professional service and outreach to the community and to governmental entities.
Contributions of public engagement (e.g., programs and partnerships, all with mutually beneficial community planning and participation).

Review will take place in two stages. In both stages the selection committee will evaluate all three areas of teaching, service, and research.

Updated: September 28, 2020

The Presidential M1 Mentorship Award Program

The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering (CCI) and the Office of the Provost are pleased to announce a Call for Applications for the Presidential M1 Mentorship Award Program. The program has as its intent to create a national model for best practices in mentorship and formalize mentorship as an academic discipline. The Presidential M1 Mentorship Award Program aims to establish a cadre of accomplished UConn faculty who will deliver mentorship to racial and ethnic underrepresented individuals along the biomedical science pipeline.

Award recipients will utilize program funds in support of efforts encompassing recruitment and mentorship of racial and ethnic underrepresented trainees at all stages of the pipeline from middle, high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to junior faculty. Awardees will also publish outcome results and experiences in scholarly journals and electronic media, attend national mentorship conferences, and convene in a bi-annual symposium.

The 2020 recipients have been announced jointly by the Office of the Provost and the Connecticut Convergence Institute: https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-convergence-institute/2020/08/04/the-office-of-the-provost-and-the-connecticut-convergence-institute-selects-four-new-presidential-m1-mentorship-program-awardees/.

Funding

Presidential M1 Mentorship Award Program funding will cover up to 25% of protected time for mentoring activities, including mentorship of individual students as well as participation in the development and execution of various mentorship initiatives. In addition, up to $5,000 will be allocated to the development of new and innovative initiatives focused on student-related activities that promote their academic growth and increase the number of students in the pipeline.

Award recipients are required to attend at least one national mentorship conference per year and to participate in further training in the art and science of mentoring racial and ethnic underrepresented students. Renewal of the award is subject to an annual program performance review and availability of funding.

Eligibility