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 2020-2021 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:

(2020-21) Humanities: English, Hispanic Studies, History, Gender and Women's Studies (in part),  Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Philosophy, (2021-22) Social Sciences: Anthropology, Gender and Women's Studies (in part), Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, (2022-23) Natural & Mathematical Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Statistics,and so on, in rotation.

The College Executive Committee has decided that all faculty in the designated division are eligible for consideration.  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.

The Committee sincerely requests that you submit a letter nominating a member of the Social Sciences 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 26, 2021. The list below represents those who have previously held the award.

Past Distinguished Professors