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Distinguished Professor Award

The College of Arts and Sciences annually grants to one of its faculty members the Distinguished Professor Award. This honor is bestowed on the basis of three criteria: outstanding research, unusually effective teaching, and distinguished professional service. The recipient of the 2023-2024 award will be granted a one-semester release from teaching, a monetary award of $5000, and will present a formal public lecture.

Under the selection criteria endorsed by vote of the college faculty, the award will rotate annually among the divisions of the college in the following order:

  • 2022-23 Natural & Mathematical Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Statistics
  • 2023-24 Humanities: English, Hispanic Studies, History, Gender and Women's Studies (in part),  Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Philosophy
  • 2024-25 Social Sciences: Anthropology, Gender and Women's Studies (in part), Geography, Political Science, Sociology

The College Executive Committee has decided that all faculty in the designated division are eligible for consideration, except for current holders of named professorships and endowed chairs. The recipient will be chosen by a Distinguished Professor Award Committee consisting of three members of the college faculty from the three separate divisions – past recipients of the award, if practicable.

Please submit a letter nominating a member of the Humanities division of the faculty whom you consider, on the basis of the three criteria mentioned above, especially worthy of this honor. Because such letters will be a major part of the information available in selecting the recipient, the committee asks that you prepare your letter carefully and detail the reasons why you believe your nominee worthy of the Distinguished Professor Award. Please include, if possible, a full curriculum vitae.

Letters of nomination must be signed and addressed to the Distinguished Professor Award Committee, emailed to Teresa Smith at Teresa.Smith@uky.edu (NO HARD COPIES PLEASE)  These letters must be received by the Committee by February 24, 2023. The list below represents those who have previously held the award.

Past Distinguished Professors

Grant C. Knight English 1945
Amry Vandenbosch Political Science 1946
Thomas D. Clark History 1947
William S. Webb Physics 1948
John Kuiper Philosophy 1949
Irwin T. Sanders Sociology 1950
Morris Scherago Bacteriology 1951
Charles E. Snow Anthropology 1952
Arthur C. McFarlan Geology 1953
Herbert P. Riley Botany 1954
Lyle R. Dawson Chemistry 1955
Clement Eaton History 1956
Gladys Kammerer Political Science 1957
Ralph Weaver Bacteriology 1958
Hollis Summers English 1959
Carl B. Cone History 1960
Shelby T. McCloy History 1961
Thomas B. Stroup English 1962
Margaret Hotchkiss Microbiology 1963
Arthur K. Moore English 1964
Kenneth Wright Music 1965
Wendell C. DeMarcus Physics 1966
Ernst Jokl Phys. Ed. & Recreation 1967
Albert D. Kirwan History 1968
William D. Ehmann Chemistry 1969
Swarupchand M.Shah Mathematics 1970
Wendell Berry English 1971
Holman Hamilton History 1972
William S. Ward English 1973
William Hugh Jansen English 1974
Roger W. Barbour Zoology 1975
S. Sidney Ulmer Political Science 1976/77
Guy Davenport, Jr English 1977/78
John Esten Keller Spanish and Italian 1978/79
William Y. Adams Anthropology 1979/80
Thomas R. Ford Sociology 1980/81
Marcus T. McEllistrem Physics 1981/82
Malcolm E. Jewell Political Science 1982/83
Thomas A. Chapman Mathematics 1983/84
Raymond F. Betts Honors 1984/85
Pradyumna P. Karan Geography 1985/86
Joseph A. Bryant English 1986/87
George C. Herring History 1987/88
Donald A. Ringe English 1988/89
Stanley D. Brunn Geography 1989/90
John T. Shawcross English 1990/91
Louis J. Swift Classics 1991/92
Doris Y. Wilkinson Sociology 1992/93
Steven W. Yates Chemistry 1993/94
John G. Cawelti English 1994/95
Jeremy D. Popkin History 1995/96
Karl B. Raitz Geography 1996/97
Tom D. Dillehay Anthropology  1997/98
Kevin S. Kiernan English 1998/99
Karen A. Mingst Political Science 1999/2000
Robert W. Olson History 2000/01
Lance G. Banning History 2001/02
Dwight B. Billings Sociology 2002/03
Sylvia Daunert Chemistry 2004/05
Dan Breazeale Philosophy 2005/06
Tom Leinbach Geography 2006/07
Dennis Clouthier Chemistry 2007/08
Francie Chassen-Lopez History 2008/09
Ernie Yanarella Political Science 2009/10
Peter Perry Mathematics 2010/11
Ron Eller History 2011/12
Richard Jefferies Anthropology

2012/13

Frank Ettensohn Earth & Environmental Studies

2013/14

Ana Rueda Hispanic Studies 2014/15
Charles Carlson Psychology 2015/16
Zhongwei Shen Mathematics 2016/17
Karen Petrone History 2017/18
Suzanne Segerstrom Psychology 2018/19
Sumit Das Physics and Astronomy 2019/20
Amy Murrell Taylor History 2020/21
Patricia Ehrkamp Geography 2021/22
Anne-Frances Miller Chemistry 2022/23