Faculty Awards

Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teacher of the Year

The College of Arts & Sciences solicits your help in selecting a faculty member of the College to receive the "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" award. The A&S Teacher of the Year award is funded by the Dean and Sue Wright Faculty Development fund. The recipient is announced at the A&S Honors Convocation in the spring semester.

We ask that you identify a full-time tenure/tenure-track A&S faculty member who you feel best exemplifies excellence in teaching and who has completed at least three years of service at Drake. The selection process will not be based on the number of nominations received for one person, but on the nomination essays, support from each nominee’s chair and other evidence of excellence as a teacher.

As you know, it is difficult to choose one teacher to honor when A&S has so many excellent professors. The process works best when the committee has strong and thoughtful nominations upon which to base its decision, especially when nominators are able to bring attention to exceptional instances of effective teaching, innovative practices or remarkable efforts above and beyond the call of duty.

TO NOMINATE: Submit professor’s name, name of the nominator, and a detailed statement of nomination (one to two pages) indicating what makes the nominee an excellent teacher by February 15.

Arts & Sciences Distinguished Engagement Award

The College of Arts & Sciences established the Distinguished Engagement Award to recognize outstanding contributions of Drake faculty and staff to the college community. Criteria for the award include:

• a demonstrated personal commitment to Drake-related volunteerism and campus engagement;
• an outstanding record of leadership or substantial involvement in community projects, services and activities contributing to the quality of life in our institution;
• professional and personal values and behavior that typify the integration of citizenship and professional responsibility.

The nominee must be a current faculty or staff member with at least five years of service at Drake. The recipient will be announced at the annual A&S Stalnaker Lecture.

TO NOMINATE: Submit a letter of nomination detailing specific examples of how the nominee exemplifies each of the applicable criteria. Additional letters of support are not necessary.

Stalnaker Lecture Award

Presented to a distinguished faculty member who is invited to present a lecture to the University community on a topic in his or her discipline in the following September or October. This award is funded in part by the emeritus professors of the College. Selection of the award recipient is by a committee consisting of the three most recent Lecturers and a representative of the emeritus faculty.

The lecturer must be a faculty member holding the rank of professor or at least in her/his fourth year at associate professor rank. Previous recipients are not eligible.

TO NOMINATE: Submit Qualtrics form with a letter of nomination in support of an eligible faculty member.

Centennial Scholar Award

Presented in even-numbered years to a faculty member in the College in recognition of distinguished achievements in scholarship. The criteria for selection include professional contributions through scholarly/creative activity, holding leadership roles in the profession/discipline, consulting activities related to scholarship and research, and contribution to the mission of the department, college, and university. Previous recipients are not eligible.

TO NOMINATE: Each department may nominate faculty members as candidates. The selection committee will contact departments to request additional materials for all finalists.

Past Award Recipients

Center for the Humanities Award

Friends of Drake Arts Grants