A university’s faculty represents one of its most precious assets. UIS faculty are nominated for 12 faculty awards each year: 11 University awards, and the University of Illinois University Scholars Award.

Recipients of faculty awards are recognized at the annual spring Faculty Honors Reception. Link to the Faculty Honors Reception newsroom article.

The recipient of the University Scholars Award is honored at the fall Faculty Scholarship Recognition event. Link to the University Scholars Award newsroom article

The nomination period for AY 2024-25 Faculty Awards has closed. Information about the AY 25-26 process and updated nomination and selection guidelines will be posted late summer or early fall. Link to AY 2024-25 nomination and selection guidelines for each award. A list of previous recipients can be found by choosing the award from the accordion list at the bottom of the page.

Faculty Award Recipients 2025

University
Scholars
Award

Heather Bailey

Heather Bailey photo for 2024 University Scholars Award
Heather Bailey

Faculty
Excellence
Award

Sheryl Reminger

Chancellor Gooch and Sheryl Reminger pose for photo with Sheryl's framed certificate for the 2025 Faculty Excellence Award.
Sheryl Reminger and Chancellor Gooch

Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award

Hypatia Bolivar

Tia Bolivar with Chancellor Gooch, Burks Oakley, and Tia's framed certificate for the 2025 Oakley Distinguished Online Teaching Award.
Hypatia Bolivar, Chancellor Gooch and Burks Oakley II

Pearson
Faculty Award

Natalya Zinkevich

Natalya Zinkevich with Chancellor Gooch and Natalya's framed certificate for the 2025 Pearson Faculty Award.
Natalya Zinkevich and Chancellor Gooch

Spencer
Faculty Service Award

Lan Dong

Lan Dong with Chancellor Gooch and Lan's framed certificate for the 2025 Spencer Faculty Service Award.
Lan Dong and Chancellor Gooch

Adjunct
Faculty of the Year

Lauren McPherson

Lauren McPherson with Chancellor Gooch and Lauren's framed certificate for the 2025 Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award.
Lauren McPherson and Chancellor Gooch

Early Career Scholarship Award

Kyle Blount

Kyle Blount with Chancellor Gooch and Kyle's framed certificate for the 2025 Early Career Scholarship Award.
Kyle Blount and Chancellor Gooch

Faculty Award for Diversity & Inclusion

Timothy Bill

Timothy Bill with Chancellor Gooch and Tim's framed certificate for the 2025 Faculty Award for Diversity and Inclusion
Timothy Bill and Chancellor Gooch

Faculty Engagement Award

Jennifer Martin

Jennifer Martin with Chancellor Gooch and Jennifer's framed certificate for the 2025 Faculty Engagement Award
Jennifer Martin and Chancellor Gooch

Outstanding Teacher Award

Allison Lacher

Allison Lacher with Chancellor Gooch and Allison's framed certificate for the 2025 Outstanding Teacher Award.
Allison Lacher and Chancellor Gooch

Scholarly Impact
Award

Ahmad Juma'h

Previous Faculty Award Recipients

View a list of previous recipients for each of our faculty awards in the menu below.

Adjunct Faculty of the Year Recipients

Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award recipients:

  • Lauren McPherson, 2025
  • Nick Dabbs, 2023
  • Jodi Hallsten Lyczak, 2022

Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award Recipients

The Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award is intended to recognize UIS faculty members whose performance exemplifies the institution’s commitment to excellence in online teaching. The award is funded through the generosity of Burks Oakley II.

A list of past recipients of the Oakley award are listed below:

  • Hypatia Bolivar, 2025
  • Serkan Karadas, 2024
  • Kat Novak, 2023
  • Youngjin Kang, 2022
  • Jennifer Martin, 2021
  • Donna Bussell, 2020
  • Kim Wiley, 2019
  • Layne Morsch, 2018
  • Cheng-Chia “Brian” Chen, 2017
  • Roxanne Kurtz Smith, 2015
  • Karen Swan, 2014
  • Denise Sommers, 2013
  • Elizabeth Kosmetatou, 2012
  • Michael Cheney, 2011
  • Laurel Newman, 2010
  • James Grubbs, 2009
  • David O’Gorman, 2008

Early Career Scholarship Award Recipients

The Early Career Scholarship Award recognizes leadership, accomplishments, and excellence in scholarship activities of pre-tenure faculty. Although the scholarship may fit traditional notions of the scholarship of discovery, applicants who exemplify scholarship of application or integration are encouraged to apply.

Early Career Scholarship Award recipients:

  • Kyle Blount, 2025
  • Sara Olivares, 2024
  • Sahar Farshadkhah, 2023
  • Meghan Kessler, 2022

Faculty Award for Diversity and Inclusion Recipients

The UIS Faculty Award for Diversity and Inclusion recognizes faculty leadership, accomplishments, and excellence in professional activities that contribute to the institutional mission of increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion, counteracting inequality and inopportunity, and contributing to struggles for inclusion of minority, marginalized, and/or historically under-represented groups.

Faculty Award for Diversity and Inclusion recipients:

  • Timothy Bill, 2025
  • Lan Dong, 2024
  • Timothy Hakenewerth, 2023
  • Hinda Seif, 2022

Faculty Engagement Award Recipients

The Faculty Engagement Award recognizes faculty leadership and teaching that creates fruitful engagement and collaboration within the community. This award recognizes faculty who create connections between their classrooms and the broader communities. This can include service learning, experiential courses, developing a learning community, and other scholarly and teaching activities in non-traditional arenas.

UIS Community Engagement - Faculty Engagement Award recipients:

  • Jennifer Martin, 2025
  • Devin Hunter, 2024
  • Serkan Karadas, 2023
  • Sahar Farshadkhah, 2022

Faculty Excellence Award Recipients

The Faculty Excellence Award is intended to recognize sustained, career-long accomplishments at UIS in teaching and scholarship. It provides an opportunity to honor colleagues who best exemplify the ideal of the teacher-scholar and whom the faculty recognize as role models.  The award is funded through the generosity of Wilbur and Margaret Wepner.

Faculty Excellence Award recipients from past years are listed below:

  • Sheryl Reminger, 2025
  • Donna Bussell, 2023
  • Lynn Fisher, 2022
  • Beverly Bunch, 2021
  • Heather Bailey, 2020
  • Scott Day, 2017
  • Rassule Hadidi, 2016
  • Leonard Branson, 2014
  • Donald Morris, 2013
  • Peter Boltuc, 2011
  • Carolyn Peck, 2010
  • Deborah McGregor, 2009
  • Bill Abler, 2008
  • Chris Mooney, 2006
  • Lynn Pardie, 2005
  • Barbara Hayler, 2004
  • Ronald Havens, 2003
  • Larry Shiner, 2002

Outstanding Teacher Award Recipients

The Outstanding Teacher Award recognizes the teaching accomplishments of non-tenure system faculty.

Outstanding Teacher Award recipients:

  • Allison Lacher, 2025
  • Timothy Bill, 2023

Pearson Faculty Award Recipients

The Pearson Faculty Award recognizes a faculty member whose performance exemplifies our commitment to excellence in teaching.  Such a teacher both informs and inspires students, imparting to them the knowledge and values with which they may become productive and enlightened citizens.  The expertise of this faculty member contributes significantly to the curriculum of the university and reflects sound and current scholarship.  This faculty member is a role model for other faculty at UIS.  This award recognizes a cumulative record of excellence in teaching at UIS. This award was established through a generous gift from Dr.  Emmet F.  Pearson and his wife, Mary Pearson.

A list of prior years' recipients is listed below:

  • Natalya Zinkevich, 2025
  • Tiffany Nielson, 2024
  • Bob Blankenberger, 2023
  • Kristi Barnwell, 2022
  • Sheryl Reminger, 2021
  • Atul Agarwal, 2020
  • Layne Morsch, 2019
  • Holly Kent, 2018
  • Amy McEuen, 2017
  • Adriana Crocker, 2016
  • Nathan Steele, 2015
  • Donna Bussell, 2014
  • Carrie Switzer, 2013
  • Lan Dong, 2012
  • Heather Dell, 2011
  • Scott Day, 2010
  • Donald O’Neal, 2009
  • Mary Bohlen, 2008
  • Ethan Lewis, 2007
  • Rachell Anderson, 2006
  • Gary Trammell, 2005
  • Beverly Rivera, 2004
  • Pinky Wassenberg, 2003
  • Robert Sipe, 2002
  • Hazel Rozema, 2001
  • Cecilia Cornell, 2000
  • Marcellus Leonard, 1999
  • Don Stanhope, 1998

Reciprocal Partnership Faculty Award Recipients

The Reciprocal Partnership Faculty Award recognizes faculty leadership and teaching that creates fruitful engagement and collaboration within the community. This award recognizes faculty and their respective community partner who best represent reciprocal partnerships.

  • Daniel Platt, 2025

Scholarly Impact Award Recipients

The Scholarly Impact Award recognizes leadership, accomplishments, and excellence in scholarship activities of tenured faculty. Although the scholarship may fit traditional notions of the scholarship of discovery, applicants who exemplify scholarship of application or integration are encouraged to apply.

Scholarly Impact Award recipients:

  • Ahmad Juma'h, 2025
  • John Transue, 2024
  • Anne-Marie Hanson, 2023
  • Meg Cass, 2022

Spencer Faculty Service Award Recipients

Robert C.  Spencer, the founding President of Sangamon State University, established the expectation that public service and service to the academic community would be highly valued by the faculty at SSU.  He emphasized that education for good citizenship was integral to a liberal arts education, and challenged this new campus and its faculty to make a difference in society.  Likewise, he sought to foster a highly participatory campus, which would model the virtues of democratic community with faculty members contributing actively to its development.  In significant measure, he succeeded on both fronts.  This award recognizes a cumulative record of significant accomplishment in service on the part of a faculty member at UIS.

Previous recipients of the Spencer Faculty Service Award are listed below:

  • Lan Dong, 2025
  • Jason Piscia, 2024
  • Amy McEuen, 2023
  • Deborah Anthony, 2022
  • Frances Shen, 2021
  • Tena Helton, 2020
  • Xiaoqing Li, 2019
  • Ranjan Karri, 2018
  • Jorge Villegas, 2017
  • Harshavardhan Bapat, 2016
  • Dennis Ruez, 2015
  • Beverly Bunch, 2014
  • Marcel Yoder, 2013
  • Michael Lemke, 2012
  • Tih-Fen Ting, 2011
  • Ted Mims, 2010
  • Beverly Rivera, 2009
  • Sharron LaFollette, 2008
  • Karen Kirkendall, 2007
  • Pat Langley, 2006
  • Steve Schwark, 2005
  • Janis Droegkamp, 2004
  • Lee Frost-Kumpf, 2003
  • Karen Moranski, 2002
  • Allan Cook, 2001
  • Loretta Meeks, 2000
  • Larry Golden, 1999

University Scholars Award - UIS Recipients

Faculty excellence is the cornerstone of any university of high quality.  There is no more important task at the University of Illinois than attracting and retaining the very best teachers and scholars.  The University Scholars Program is designed to identify outstanding members of faculty who represent emerging scholars in their fields of study, and to provide each with a modest amount of funds annually for a defined number of years.  The awards are not made for a specific project or proposal; rather, they are a symbol of the recipient’s excellence and the University’s commitment to foster outstanding people and their work.  One University Scholars Award is granted to a UIS faculty member annually. 

The newest UIS University Scholar is announced at an annual faculty event each fall.

  • Heather Bailey, 2024
  • Shipra Gupta, 2023
  • Jennifer Martin, 2022
  • Sean McCandless, 2021
  • Sudeep Sharma, 2020
  • Yanhui Guo, 2019
  • Richard Gilman-Opalsky, 2018
  • Benjamin Walsh, 2017
  • Peter Shapinsky, 2016
  • Elizabeth Kosmetatou, 2015
  • David Bertaina, 2014
  • Hua Chen, 2013
  • Lan Dong, 2012
  • John Martin, 2011
  • Christopher Mooney, 2010
  • Sviatoslav Braynov, 2009
  • Rosina Neginsky, 2008
  • Barbara Burkhardt, 2007
  • Lynn Fisher, 2006
  • Keenan Dungey, 2005
  • Barbara Hayler, 2004
  • Robert McGregor, 2003
  • Michael Lemke, 2002
  • Robert Wright, 2001
  • Keith Miller, 2000
  • Peter Wenz, 1999
  • Donna Duffner, 1998
  • David Jenkins, 1998
  • Doh Shin, 1997
  • Ethan Lewis, 1996
  • Hammed Shahidian, 1996
News
Apr 04, 2022
About Faculty Awards 2021 We recognize the recipients of four of our prestigious faculty awards each spring: the Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online…
Apr 04, 2022
About Promotion to Full Professor All faculty who achieve tenure and the rank of associate professor have demonstrated and documented a clear record of…
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Apr 04, 2022
About Sabbatical Leave Academic sabbaticals represent a period of leave granted by the University of Illinois for the purpose of study, research, or other…
Apr 04, 2022
About Emeritus/Emerita Status The awarding of emerita/emeritus status is a significant honor, typically given at the end of one’s formal institutional…