Awards and Honors
The Division of Research & Innovation is pleased to provide opportunities to showcase the distinguished research on the University of Memphis campus. Check this page for award applications, and look for indexes of prior award winners in the near future.
2025 Alumni Association Awards for Distinguished Faculty Research, Creative Achievement, and Faculty Excellence in Engaged Scholarship
DEADLINE: Friday, January 31, 2025. Submitted Electronically.
Nominations are sought for the following awards:
- Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Creative Arts
- Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Research in the Humanities
- Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Research in the Social Sciences, Business and Law
- Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Research in Science, Engineering and Mathematics
Nominations are also sought for:
- The Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award
Nominations for these awards are due to the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, 303 FedEx Institute of Technology, by the last Friday in February. Only faculty members who have been employed full-time by the University of Memphis for five academic years prior to the semester of their application or nomination are eligible. Faculty may not be re-nominated within 7 years of receiving an award and may not receive more than 2 awards. Nominations should include a current CV with a complete list of publications, along with a maximum of three copies of scholarly and/or creative activities, a narrative summary of the nominee’s research achievements, recommendations from the Department and College or School, and at least three external letters from distinguished referees or community partners. Consult your College Director of Graduate Studies and Research for the internal college deadlines for these awards.
Please direct questions to researchdev@memphis.edu
Eligibility
- Candidates must have been employed full-time by The University of Memphis for five academic years prior to the semester of their application or nomination.
- Former award winners may not be re-nominated within seven years of the first award and may not receive the award more than twice.
About Engaged Scholarship
Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award: The University of Memphis is a metropolitan research institution that seeks to serve its urban, regional, state, national, and global communities in a number of ways. Vital to this mission is scholarship that addresses the concerns and opportunities of these communities. Such scholarship (1) involves academic projects that engage faculty members and students in a collaborative and sustained manner with community groups; (2) connects university outreach endeavors with community organizational goals; (3) furthers mutual productive relationships between the university and the community; (4) entails shared authority in the research process from defining the research problem, choosing theoretical and methodological approaches, conducting the results, developing the final product(s), to participating in peer review; and (5) results in excellence in engaged scholarship through such products as peer-reviewed publications, peer-reviewed collaborative reports, documentation of impact, and external funding.
In keeping with this purpose, the University of Memphis has established a faculty award to recognize excellence in engaged scholarship. The Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Award will further awareness of engaged scholarship in partnerships between faculty members and students of the University of Memphis and community organizations and agencies in the Memphis/Mid-South region, the State of Tennessee, the United States, and global communities.
Nomination Process
Nomination is a two-phase process.
Phase 1:
Candidates may be self-nominated or nominated by any faculty or administrative staff member employed full-time by The U of M in the semester of nomination. Candidates should be informed of their candidacy by the College or School receiving the nomination. Colleges and Schools may nominate one faculty member in each category. All nominations must be endorsed by the unit chair. Nominations from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business & Economics, Communication & Fine Arts, Education, and Engineering must be submitted to the appropriate College Council for Graduate Studies and Research. Nominations from the Schools of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Public Health, Nursing, and Law must be submitted directly to the Dean of the School. The Colleges and Schools will set their own internal deadlines prior to final submission to the Office of Research and Innovation by the last Friday in January.
Phase 2:
After review within the College or School, the Dean’s office may send a single nomination for each award from the College or School to researchdev@memphis.edu by the last Friday in January, along with a narrative statement detailing the nominee’s achievements in Engaged Scholarship. The Dean’s office will notify all nominees about the results of the College or School review.
Phase 1: Submission Process And Deadlines To The College/School
Note: Each College/School should send nominations for each award as a single PDF file for each category using the Subject Line: 2024 AADRA Nominations to researchdev@memphis.edu, Office of Research and Innovation by the last Friday in January. Please check with your College/School for internal deadlines.
The nomination packet consists of:
- required cover sheet (last page of guidelines);
- a CV with a complete list of publications, along with a maximum of three copies of scholarly and/or creative activities,
- a narrative summary of achievements in creative activity, research, or engaged scholarship;
- recommendation letters from the academic unit and College or School;
- at least three external letters from distinguished referees or community partners in engaged scholarship.
The nominee will provide names of possible reviewers, which will be supplemented by the department chair. At the College or School level, the Graduate Director will solicit the three external letters of recommendations. Nominations of faculty who have won the award in the past should stress the nominee’s work since that award was won.
For the Engaged Scholarship Award, it is important that these materials demonstrate how the faculty member has engaged in a collaborative and sustained manner with community groups; has connected university outreach with community organizational goals; has furthered mutual productive relationships between the university and the community; entails shared authority in the research process from defining the research problem, choosing theoretical and methodological approaches, conducting the results, developing the final product(s), to participating in peer review; and has generated products—such as peer-reviewed publications, peer-reviewed collaborative reports, and external funding—that reflect excellence in engaged scholarship activities.
After review within the College or School, the Dean’s office will submit a single nomination in each category appropriate to that College or School to the Office Research and Innovation by the last Friday in January, along with a letter detailing the nominee’s achievements. The Dean’s office will notify all nominees about the results of the review.
Phase 2 - Review Process By The Office Of Research And Innovation
Committees will be convened by the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation
to evaluate submissions in each category. These committees reserve the right to make
no awards in a given year if in their judgment no sufficiently distinguished recipients
can be identified.
Reviewers will evaluate the nominations based on quality of scholarly contribution
to the discipline; originality of contribution; recognition of work by peers; membership
on student committees; external support if available in the discipline, the quality
of the projects and how well they meet the criteria of engaged scholarship, or any
other relevant quality measures.
Final nominees for these awards are subject to confirmation by the President. The
confirmed awards will be presented at the annual Faculty Awards Luncheon. Each recipient
will receive a $2000 honorarium and a certificate.
For questions or more information, please contact Research Development at researchdev@memphis.edu