Henry Russel Award

PLEASE NOTE: We have substantially changed the guidelines and process for awards nominations. Please remember to read through the description below.

This award is conferred annually to recognize faculty members early in their academic careers who already have demonstrated an extraordinary record of accomplishment in scholarly research and/or creativity, as well as an excellent record of contribution as a teacher.

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General Information

Eligibility

Nominees with the title of assistant professor or associate professor are eligible for this award, provided that they have been tenure track instructional faculty at the University of Michigan for no more than six years at the time of nomination. Nominators are encouraged to nominate outstanding women, minorities and members of other groups historically underrepresented in their disciplines.

Selection Criteria

This award recognizes faculty early in their academic careers who already have demonstrated an extraordinary record of accomplishment in scholarship, research, and creativity and have also demonstrated excellence as a teacher.

Number of Awards

Two awards of $1,200 each will be made annually.

Source of Nominations

Nominations may be submitted by deans, directors, department/program heads, executive, promotion or award committees, or individual faculty members. If you plan to re-nominate a competitor from a prior year, please contact Pat McCune to arrange for activation of the online dossier.

Selection Process

An interdisciplinary selection committee comprised of distinguished senior faculty from a range of schools and colleges reviews all nominations and recommends those who should receive awards to President Coleman for her approval. The award(s) will be presented formally on the occasion of the Henry Russel Lecture in March 2014.

Deadline

The nomination deadline for 2013 Henry Russel Awards is March 27, 2013 12PM/noon EDT.

For more information contact:

Pat McCune, Ph.D.
Senior Project Manager
Telephone: 936-1647
E-mail: faculty-awards@umich.edu

Guidelines for the Preparation of Nominations

The complete instructions for submitting a nomination for this award are available here as well as on the separate nomination website.

Listed below are the four items that must be included in the dossier before the nomination can be submitted. You will be asked to either enter text into text boxes or online forms, or upload documents in Adobe PDF format.

A nomination dossier can be set up by a U-M faculty or staff member. Up to six others may be given access to the site by the person who opens the dossier on the website. After a nomination dossier is started the nominator(s) and assistant(s) may login to the faculty awards nomination system as many times as needed in order to complete the nomination.

Contact Information Form

Provide in the online form all the contact information requested for both the nominee and the nominator—not the administrative contact.

Letter of Nomination

You may submit your nomination letter by uploading the document in Adobe PDF format. If this is a re-nomination you have the option of submitting an addendum to your earlier nomination letter or of uploading a new letter that will replace the earlier one. The nomination letter may be no longer than five pages (3,400 words) in length.

The committee members represent a range of disciplines and may not be familiar with your nominee’s field; it is essential to describe achievements in a way that conveys the significance to those not acquainted with the discipline. The nomination must also make it clear why this particular individual was nominated given the notably accomplished and engaged number of faculty at U-M.

If you wish, you may include in your five pages evidence of teaching excellence or impact other than the standard forms from E&E. Please note that we will collect the E&E teaching evaluations for your nominee and add them to the file, so that you do not need to include this information.

While letters from others may not be included, the nominator is welcome to solicit in advance short descriptions of the nominee’s abilities and achievements from former and current students, peers, advisors, and faculty with whom the nominee has collaborated or taught. Excerpts from these may be incorporated where appropriate in the letter of nomination. The nominator may also make use of excerpts from letters solicited for a tenure review, if such letters are available.

Committee members often find the following information helpful as they try to evaluate and distinguish among a highly competitive set of nominees. Persuasive letters of nomination will include:

  • A description of the nominee’s major research, scholarly or creative contributions to date so that readers can understand the significance of the nominee’s achievements in the discipline or field of study;
  • An indication of how the nominee’s contributions compare to peers at the same career stage at the University or other institutions;
  • Evidence of external recognition of the nominee’s contributions by peers;
  • Evaluation of the nominee’s contributions as a member of the teaching faculty and proven ability as an educator. This might include willingness to teach courses with high student demand; curriculum development and improvement; awards or recognition as an accomplished teacher; using new technologies for effective student engagement;
  • Evidence that the nominee serves as an influential and successful advisor to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, as appropriate to the field and career stage;
  • Evidence of success in service contributions. This may include leadership or constructive contributions to department or school/college committees, formal and informal administrative roles, editorial boards, and engagement in professional organizations and societies. If relevant, include activities that indicate service to other communities (such as the state of Michigan) or institutions as the committee honors the values this reflects.

Curriculum Vitae

Include the nominee’s most complete and current c.v. by uploading the most recent version in Adobe PDF format.

Doctoral Committee Service Form

Complete the online form by providing in the text box the following information for all doctoral committee service in the past five years: name of student, student’s department/program, year the degree was conferred or is expected, role served by the nominee, and placement information for the student. The awards selection committee considers placement information to be valuable in their assessment.

Open/Edit a Nomination

Recipients of the Henry Russel Award

2013

  • Allison Steiner, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences and Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • Angela Violi, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science

2012

  • Lada Adamic, School of Information, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
  • Aaron Pierce, Physics
  • Haoxing Xu, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

2011

  • Anthony Grbic, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
  • David Harding, Sociology
  • Anna Michalak, Civil & Environmental Engineering

2010

  • Cindy Lustig, Psychology
  • Patricia Wittkopp, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

2009

  • Luming Duan, Physics
  • Anna Grzymala-Busse, Political Science
  • Laura Kasischke, English Language & Literature

2008

  • Edwin Bergin, Astronomy
  • Jason Owen-Smith, Sociology, Organizational Studies

2007

  • Anne Curzan, English Language & Literature, Education
  • Jerome Lynch, Civil and Environmental Engineering

2006

  • Amy Porter, Wind and Percussion
  • Dennis Sylvester, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

2005

  • David T. Blaauw, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Anna Stefanopoulou, Mechanical Engineering

2004

  • Todd Austin, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Brian Conrad, Mathematics
  • Lorna Goodison, English Language & Literature

2003

  • William V. Giannobile, Periodontics/Prevention & Geriatrics
  • Scott J. Hollister, Biomedical Engineering, Surgery and Mechanical Engineering
  • Denise Kirschner, Microbiology & Immunology
  • John V. Moran, Human Genetics
  • Michael J. Solomon, Chemical Engineering

2002

  • Clark T. C. Nguyen, EECS
  • Yoichi Osawa, Pharmacology
  • Johanna H. Prins, English Language & Literature

2001

  • Lisa Curran, Biology/Natural Resources

2000

  • Jeffrey Fessler, EECS
  • Webb Keane, Anthropology

1999

  • Thomas Hales, Mathematics
  • Aalexander Ninfa, Biological Chemistry
  • Ann Marie Sastry, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics

1998

  • Susan Alcock, Classical Art & Archaeology/Classical Studies
  • Trevor Wooley, Mathematics

1997

  • Carla Sinopoli, Anthropology
  • Kamal Sarabandi, EECS

1996

  • Celeste A. Brusati, History of Art
  • Dante A. Amidei, Physics

1995

  • H. Brinkley Messick, Anthropology
  • Khalil Najafi, EECS

1994

  • Stephen Lee, Chemistry

1993

  • Jessy W. Grizzle, EECS
  • John C. Mitani, Anthropology

1992

  • James M. Wilson, Internal Medicine

1991

  • David Srolovitz, Materials Science

1990

  • Alice Fulton, English Language & Literature
  • Philip Hanlon, Mathematics

1989

  • Susan Gelman, Psychology

1988

  • Thomas P. Beresford, Psychiatry
  • Thomas E. Crow, History of Art

1987

  • Nancy Cantor, Psychology
  • Jennifer A. Kitchell, Geology
  • Barbara Boardman Smuts, Psychology

1986

  • Richard I. Arculus, Geological Sciences

1985

  • Noburu Kikuchi, Mechanical Engineering
  • Donald Kinder, Political Science

1984

  • Daniel C. Fisher, Geological Sciences

1983

  • Peter A. Railton, Philosophy

1982

  • Daniel M. Burns, Jr., Mathematics
  • John T. Lehman, Biology

1981

  • Gayl A. Jones, English Language & Literature

1980

  • Philip D. Gingerich, Geological Sciences
  • Robert P. Kirshner, Physics

1979

  • Joyce P. Marcus, Anthropology

1978

  • Charles F. Yocum, Biology

1977

  • William E. Bolcom, Music

1976

  • Rob Van der Voo, Geological Sciences

1975

  • Hugh L. Montgomery, Mathematics

1974

  • Bernard Q. Nietschmann, Geography

1973

  • John J. Voorhees, Dermatology

1972

  • Kent V. Flannery, Anthropology

1971

  • Lewis J. Kleinsmith, Biology

1970

  • Jeremiah G. Turcotte, Surgery

1969

  • William W. Freehling, History

1968

  • Arthur J. Vander, Physiology

1967

  • Theodore V. Buttrey, Classical Studies

1966

  • William P. Malm, Music

1965

  • Anthony J. Pennington, Electrical Engineering

1964

  • John M. DeNoyer, Geology

1963

  • George D. Zuidema, Surgery

1962

  • John R. G. Gosling, Obstetrics & Gynecology

1961

  • Lawrence B. Slobodkin, Zoology

1960

  • William L. Hays, Psychology

1959

  • William R. Dawson, Biology

1958

  • Oleg Grabar, History of Art

1957

  • Elman R. Service, Anthropology

1956

  • Donald R. Pearce, English Language & Literature

1955

  • Donald Arthur Glaser, Physics

1954

  • John W. Hall, History

1953

  • Edwin E. Moise, Mathematics

1952

  • Henry J. Gomberg, Electrical Engineering

1951

  • Ernst Pulgram, Romance Languages

1950

  • Chris J. D. Zarafonetis, Internal Medicine

1949

  • Richard C. Boys, English Language & Literature

1948

  • Robert M. Thrall, Mathematics

1947

  • Burton L. Baker, Anatomy

1946

  • Robert R. White, Chemical Engineering

1945

  • William B. Willcox, History

1944

  • Frederick K. Sparrow, Jr., Botany

1943

  • Carl A. Moyer, Surgery

1942

  • Richard H. Freyberg, Internal Medicine

1941

  • Herbert C. Youtie, Classical Studies

1940

  • Edgard M. Hoover, Jr., Economics
  • Frank H. Bethell, Internal Medicine

1939

  • Norman R. F. Maier, Psychology

1938

  • Franklin D. Johnston, Internal Medicine

1937

  • Frank E. Eggleton, Zoology

1936

  • Lawrence Preuss, Political Science

1935

  • Ralph Grafton Smith, Public Health

1934

  • Paul Mueschke, English Language & Literature

1933

  • Werner E. Bachmann, Chemistry

1932

  • William L. Ayres, Mathematics

1931

  • Earl L. Griggs, English Langauge & Literature

1930

  • Carl L. Hubbs, Zoology

1929

  • John Alexander, Surgery

1928

  • Laurence M. Gould, Geology

1927

  • Albert Hyma, History

1926

  • Carter L. Goodrich, Economics