Academics

Nominations sought for Faculty Scholar Medal

The Penn State Faculty Scholar medal.  Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Office of the President has opened the call for nominations for individuals eligible to receive the Faculty Scholar Medal.

“We are pleased to recognize, honor, and award the scholarly and creative excellence of our faculty in six disciplines across the University,” said Penn State President Eric Barron. “These awards truly recognize the exemplary and superior accomplishments that our faculty continue to achieve.”

The Faculty Scholar Medal, established by the Board of Trustees in 1980, will be presented during the University Awards Program in the spring. The medal will be awarded to individuals in six scholarly areas: arts and humanities; engineering; entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and economic development; life and health sciences; physical sciences; and social and behavioral sciences.

The selection process is administered by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research. Selection panels of faculty peers, one in each of the scholarly areas, will review nominations for recommendations to the president.  

For information on deadlines for submitting nominations and accompanying materials, please check with the dean’s office in the individual colleges. Deans should submit recommendations to the Senior Vice President for Research via InfoReady Review by Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Chancellors from the Commonwealth Campuses should submit recommendations through the Senior Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses or the Dean of the Graduate School (as appropriate), by Jan. 6, 2021, with final submissions to the Senior Vice President for Research by Friday, Jan. 8, 2021.

The achievement for which the faculty member is to be honored should have occurred or culminated during the preceding five years.  Special attention should be given to the objective of honoring “a single contribution or a series of contributions around a coherent theme.”

Guidelines for nominations are available here.

Nomination materials should be provided as PDF files and submitted electronically through InfoReady Review.

Eligible nominees are members of the University as defined by the electorate of the Faculty Senate (see “Constitution By-Laws and Standing Rules of the University Faculty Senate,”) with the exception of those who have already received the medal, those designated as Evan Pugh University Professors, and those holding endowed professor and chair positions. 

Requests for information should be directed to Diane Plummer, Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, e-mail dlp12@psu.edu

Last Updated November 23, 2020