All individuals for this distinction must be nominated by one (or more) faculty or administrator via a single nomination letter. The Selection Committee requests that previous nominations be updated each year, ensuring documentation and materials are current and accurate. Self-nominations are not accepted.

Nominations:

1. A cover letter with a brief overview of the candidate’s qualifications for the award.
2. A three-page Summary of Qualifications.  This summary must dedicate one page to discussion of the nominee’s research/creative endeavors, one page to teaching, and one page to public engagement and service activities. The summary should also include the impact of each of these areas on the school/college, university, and/or community. Any nominations not in compliance with this format will be returned to the nominator(s) for revision.
   • To assist in preparing your nomination, the Selection Committee’s criteria are described in the Selection Criteria below. To assist the committee in their review of nominations, please follow the criteria specified in each of the three areas.
3. An updated CV that includes all publications and creative endeavors. Citations for journal articles, books, and other publications should include all authors, full titles, and applicable page numbers. For creative works such as exhibitions, curated exhibitions, performances, and musical compositions, date and venue should be included.

Please send your complete set of first-round nomination materials, as one complete PDF file, to provost@uconn.edu.  The nomination packet should be single spaced, formatted for standard (8.5” x 11”) paper with one-inch margins on all sides, and Times New Roman 12 font.

Nominations are due to provost@uconn.edu by 5:00 p.m. on December 5, 2025. 

Finalists:

Nominators of candidates selected as finalists will be notified of the need to solicit reference letters by January 23, 2026. The deadline for these letters and any other materials requested by the selection committee for this pool of finalists will be March 20, 2026.

Finalists will be asked to submit letters of reference from up to six referees. Normally, no more than two referees should be from close colleagues, collaborators or former students. At least one of the individuals should be qualified to focus on formal teaching and may be an internal UConn reference. The remaining referees should be individuals external to the University, who have a national/international reputation and are familiar with the nominee’s work. No more than six letters will be incorporated into the review file.  Please note that the Committee reserves the right to request additional letters from UConn faculty, department heads, or deans to assist with their deliberations.

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor is the highest honor that the University bestows on faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, and service, outreach, and public engagement. To be eligible, candidates must have attained the rank of tenured Professor.

This award is for faculty who have spent at least 10 years of their career at UConn. Nominees should be actively engaged scholars, who excel in all three areas of teaching, research, and service, outreach, and public engagement. Evidence for these should include the following:

Teaching

• Undergraduate and graduate courses taught during the past seven years (including course title and credit hours for each). The Office of the Provost will acquire Student Experience of Teaching data from the past seven years for all applicants.
• Other evaluations or evidence of excellence in teaching with supporting documentation.
• Data on positions and activities of former graduate students.
• Evidence of national and international presentations.
• Collaborative publications with students or evidence of mentoring.
• Teaching innovations, awards, and special recognitions.

Research and Creative Works

• Outstanding scholarly productivity and creative works demonstrated by an international or national reputation in his/her field.
• Evidence of engagement in scholarship (e.g., ongoing research, conference presentations, seminars, lectures, scholarly publications).

Service, Outreach, and Public Engagement

• Service to the University and outreach to the community, the state, and at the national and international level, including service to the candidate’s academic profession, professional service and outreach to the community and to governmental entities.
• Contributions of public engagement (e.g., programs and partnerships, all with mutually beneficial community planning and participation).

Review will take place in two stages. In both stages the selection committee will evaluate all three areas of teaching, service, and research.

Last Updated: September 26, 2024.

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor is the highest honor that the University bestows on faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service. This award includes a $2,500 one-year stipend to be used by each recipient to further their professional activities. A ceremony is held each fall to honor the awardees.

2025

• Peter Albertsen – Urology
• Anne Dailey – Law
• Luyi Sun – Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

2024

• Nora Berrah – Physics
• Ki H. Chon – Biomedical Engineering
• Crystal L. Park – Psychological Sciences

2023

• Douglas J. Casa – Kinesiology
• Lewis Gordon – Philosophy
• Bandana Purkayastha – Sociology

2022

• Laurinda Jaffe – Cell Biology
• Rachel O’Neill – Genomics
• Richard Pomp – Law

2021

• Ming-Hui Chen – Statistics
• Marja Hurley – Medicine
• Leslie Loew – Cell Biology
• Radenka Maric – Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Richard A. Wilson – Law

2020

• Pamir Alpay – Materials Science and Engineering
• Katharina von Hammerstein – Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
• C. Michael White – Pharmacy Practice

2019

• Emmanouil N. Anagnostou – Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Michael P. Lynch – Philosophy and Humanities Institute
• Cathy Schlund-Vials – English and Asian/Asian American Studies

2018

• Regina Barreca – English
• Miguel Gomes – Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
• Peter Luh – Electrical and Computer Engineering

2017

• Sandra Chafouleas – Educational Psychology
• Patrick Hogan – English
• Sanguthevar Rajasekaran – Computer Science & Engineering

2016

• Frank Costigliola – History
• John Mathieu – Management
• Krishna Pattipati – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Michael Willig – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

2015

• Jc Beall – Philosophy
• Blair T. Johnson – Psychology

2014

• Scott Brown – Educational Psychology
• Nancy Naples – Sociology
• Kathleen Segerson – Economics

2013

• Mark Boyer – Political Science
• Linda Pescatello – Kinesiology

2012

• Lynne Healy – Social Work
• Kent Holsinger – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

2011

• Carl Maresh – Kinesiology
• John B. Morris – Pharmacology and Toxicology

2010

• Jeffrey D. Fisher – Psychology
• Harry A. Frank – Chemistry
• J. Peter Gogarten – Molecular & Cell Biology

2009

• Gregory J. Anderson – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• Diane Jane Burgess – Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Diane C. Lillo-Martin – Linguistics

2008

• Richard F. Bass – Mathematics
• Cheryl Tatano Beck – Nursing
• Dipak K. Dey – Statistics

2007

• Michael Neumann – Mathematics
• John Salamone – Psychology
• Sandra Weller – Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, UConn Health

2006

• Janine Caira – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Joel Kupperman – Philosophy
• Sally Reis – Educational Psychology

2005

• Brenda Murphy – English
• Peter Setlow – Molecular Microbial & Structural Biology, UConn Health
• C. F. Sirmans – Finance
• Bette Talvacchia – Art & Art History

2004

• William Fitzgerald – Marine Sciences
• Bahram Javidi – Electrical & Computer Engineering
• James Marsden – Operations & Information Mangement
• Lawrence Raisz – Center for Osteoporosis, UCHC
• Howard Tennen – Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatric Institute, UConn Health

2003

• Deborah Fein – Psychology
• Debra Kendall – Molecular & Cell Biology
• Gary English – Drama
• Philip Marcus – Molecular & Cell Biology
• Robert Weiss – Chemical Engineering, IMS

2002

• Yaakov Bar-Shalom – Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Richard D. Brown – History
• David Kenny – Psychology
• Alexandros Makriyannis – Pharmacy
• William Stwalley – Physics

2001

• David Benson – English
• Robert Colwell – Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• Ruth Millikan – Philosophy
• Steven Suib – Chemistry
• John (Jack) Veiga – Management

2000

• Bruce Stave – History
• Howard Lasnik – Linguistics
• Joseph Renzulli – Educational Psychology
• Lynn Bloom – English
• Michael Turvey – Psychology
• Stanley Biggs – Accounting