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

“The Faculty Scholar Medal symbolizes the excellence and remarkable achievements that define our research enterprise," said President Neeli Bendapudi. "It is a privilege to honor faculty and their scholarly and creative contributions across a wide range of disciplines, reflecting the high standards of accomplishment that our University proudly upholds." 

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 in each of the scholarly areas will review nominations for recommendations to the president.    

Deans and chancellors must submit recommendations to the senior vice president for research via InfoReady by Dec. 3. For information on deadlines for submitting nominations and accompanying materials to your dean’s or chancellor’s office, contact the office in your college. 

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.  

Eligible nominees are members of the University as defined by the electorate of the 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.   

Nomination dossiers should include: a letter from the dean, chancellor or director endorsing the candidate; and a letter from the unit head such as the department head where applicable. These letters should provide a detailed description of the achievement that focuses on evidence of the superior scholarly or creative accomplishments occurring or culmination in the past five years. Dossiers should also include (1) nominee’s vita; (2) a representative sample of the achievement: selected articles, sections of books, a visual arts portfolio, recording of performances, patents, etc.; (3) published reviews of the key works, where relevant; and (4) credible outside evaluations from faculty at peer institutions which substantiate a claim of national or international importance (brief identification notes on the authors of the letters should be furnished). The dossier should be selective; it should be no more than 100 pages long. Where sample sections of books are included in item 2, and in some fields, it can be much shorter; no more than five key external evaluations should be provided. The dossier should be provided electronically, as a single PDF file. 

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