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College Convocation Research Awards

At the annual Faculty Awards Dinner, the college recognizes faculty excellence in research and creative achievement by presenting three levels of awards, at the junior, midcareer, and distinguished senior levels.

Eligibility

These awards are available to Arts & Sciences full-time faculty members who are pre-tenure or who have received tenure, and who have spent at least two years at UT immediately preceding the nomination. We seek to recognize faculty members who excel in scholarship and creative activity while also being fully engaged in the other responsibilities of faculty jobs, primarily teaching and service (to the department, university, and profession). Individuals who have received a Convocation research award within the last five years may not be renominated for the same award.

  • Early-Career Awards
    Full-time tenure-track or tenured faculty with at least two years on the UT tenure track immediately prior to the nomination, and no more than 8 years after the terminal degree are eligible for early career research awards.
  • Midcareer Awards
    These individuals will be 8 to 15 years after the terminal degree, and who have spent at least two years at UT immediately prior to the nomination.
  • Senior Awards
    These individuals will be at least 15 years after the terminal degree, and who have spent at least two years at UT immediately prior to the nomination.
  • Distinguished Senior Awards
    These awards are designated for tenured full Professors who have spent the previous 20 years or more at UT.

This year nominations for recognition in research/creative achievement will be online. When you click on the “Research Nomination Form” link below you will be taken to a page where you enter the information regarding the nomination. The page includes a box into which to paste the text of a statement on how faculty members were involved in the nomination process. The nomination letter and the nominee’s CV should be attached to the nomination using the link provided.

The complete nomination consists of:

  1. A completed nomination form.
  2. A supporting letter from the appropriate Department Head/Program Chair, no longer than two pages. This letter should describe the accomplishments that resulted in the nomination.
  3. A statement of how faculty members were involved in the nomination process.
  4. The nominee’s current curriculum vitae.

Please note that for security purposes, you must be logged in to your UT / Google account to make submissions on the form. Department Heads and Program Chairs are encouraged to involve faculty and students (where appropriate) as fully as possible in the recommendation process. Units may make more than one nomination in each category, but in such cases, the Head or Program Chair needs to compare the nominees. An award of $500 will be transferred to the awardee’s academic department to be used for her or his professional development. Awards will be presented at this year’s Winter Convocation.

Please direct any questions to Michael Blum. Nominations must be submitted no later than December 15 at 5:00 p.m.

Recipients

Year Faculty Award/Recipient Department
2022 Distinguished Career: Hanno Weitering
Senior: Dawn Szymanski
Senior: Steven Wise
Mid-career: Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Mid-career: Rachel McCord
Early Career: Kelli Wood
Early Career: Xingli Giam
Physics & Astronomy
Psychology
Mathematics
Art
BCMB
Art
EEB
2021 Distinguished Career: Shih-Lung Shaw
Senior: Monica Black
Senior: Janice Musfeldt
Mid-career: Patrick Grzanka
Mid-career: Stephanie Kivlin
Early Career: Kirsten Gonzalez
Early Career: Quisheng Wu
Geography
History
Chemistry
Psychology
EEB
Psychology
Geography
2020 Distinguished Career: Karen W. Hughes
Senior: Adriana Moreo
Senior: Bin Zhao
Mid-career: Brian C. O’Meara
Mid-career: Sara Ritchey
Early Career: Aaron T. Buss
Early Career: Stephen A. Collins-Elliott
EEB
Physics & Astronomy
Chemistry
EEB
History
Psychology
Classics
2019 Distinguished Career: Steven Wilhelm
Senior: Andrew Steiner
Senior: Nancy Henry
Mid-career: Elizabeth Derryberry
Mid-career: Charles Sanft
Early Career: Jian Liu
Early Career: John Kelley
Microbiology
Physics and Astronomy
English
EEB
History
Physics and Astronomy
Art
2018 Distinguished Career: Yuri Efremenko
Senior: Erin E. Hardin
Senior: Heather Anne Hirschfeld
Mid-career: Jessica Sari Fleming Hay
Mid-career: Brandon Matheny
Early Career: Tore C. Olsson
Early Career: Matt Buehler
Physics & Astronomy
Psychology
English
EEB
Psychology
History
Political Science
2017 Distinguished Career: Mike Lofaro
Senior: Kate Jones
Mid-career: John Powers
Mid-career: Haidong Zhou
Early Career: Sarah Eldridge
Early Career: Patrick Grzanka
English
Physics & Astronomy
Art
Physics & Astronomy
MFLL
Psychology
2016 Distinguished Career: Suzanne Lenhart
Senior: Robert Grzywacz
Senior: Anthony J. Nownes
Mid-career: Yingkui Li,
Mid-career: Tina Shepardson
Early Career: Erin Darby
Early Career: Karen G. Lloyd
Mathematics
Physics and Astronomy
Political Science
Geography
Religious Studies
Religious Studies
Microbiology
2015 Distinguished Career – Sally Horn
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Todd Freeberg
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Robert Norrell
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Shawn Campagna
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Daniel Magilow
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Lois Presser
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Abner Salgado
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Shellen X. Wu
Geography
Psychology
History
Chemistry
MFLL
Sociology
Mathematics
History
2014 Distinguished Career – Carol Harden
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Aleydis van de Moortel
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Shih-Lung Shaw
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Jay Rubenstein
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Thomas Papenbrock
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Kristina Gordon
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Emily Bivens
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – David Jenkins
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Steven Wise
Mid. Research/Creative Achievement – Greg Reynolds
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Micheline van Riemsdijk
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Vasileios Maroulas
Geography
Classics
Geography
History
Physics
Psychology
School of Art
Chemistry
Mathematics
Psychology
Geography
Mathematics
2013 Distinguished Senior Research/Creative Achievement – Gordon Burghardt
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Misty Anderson
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Henri Grissino-Mayer
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Stefan Spanier
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Annette Engel
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Joshua Inwood
Psychology & EEB
English
Geography
Physics
EPS
Geography
2012 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Jon Camden
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Aimee Classen
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – David Anderson
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Gregory Stuart
Chemistry
EEB
Anthropology
Psychology
2011 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Devon Burr
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – David Gold
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Larry Taylor
EPS
English
EPS
2010 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Dawn A. Duke
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Stephen M. Wise
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Xiaobing H. Feng
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Asafa Jalata
MFLL
Mathematics
Mathematics
Sociology
2009 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Katherine L. Grzywacz-Jones
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Jered B. Sprecher
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Stephen H. Blackwell
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Elizabeth E. Howell
Physics
Art
MFLL
BCMB
2008 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Kathleen Buckley
Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Taylor Feild
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Barry Bruce
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Kenneth Stephenson
Theatre
EEB
BCMB
Mathematics
2007 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – James Conant
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Thomas Hallam
Mathematics
EEB
2006 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Lowell Gaertner
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Suzanne Lenhart
Psychology
Mathematics
2005 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Michael Kulikowski
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Sergey Gavrilets
History
EEB
2004 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Heather Hirschfeld
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Michael Langston
English
Computer Science
2003 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Henri Grissino-Mayer
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Palmira Brummett
Geography
History
2002 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Jake Weltzin
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Robert Compton
EEB
Chemistry
2001 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Mark Dadmun
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Witek Nazarewicz
Chemistry
Physics
2000 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Larry McKay
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Leonard Handler
Geological Sciences
Psychology
1999 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Hanno Weitering
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Spiro Alexandratos
Physics
Chemistry
1998 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Deborah Welsh
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Harry McSween
Psychology
Geological Sciences
1997 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Todd Diacon
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – James Nelson
History
Philosophy
1996 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Ben Xue
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Susan Metros
Chemistry
Art
1995 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Claudia Mora
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Stuart Pimm
Geological Sciences
Zoology
1994 Jr. Research/Creative Achievement – Carol Harden
Sr. Research/Creative Achievement – Gary Sayler
Geography
Microbiology