University of Michigan leaders are encouraging community members across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses to nominate faculty members who have demonstrated a commitment to public impact for the president’s awards for public engagement.
Launched in 2017, the President’s Award for National and State Leadership and the President’s Award for Public Impact aim to celebrate faculty public engagement at U-M.
The nominating deadline for both awards is Dec. 8.
The award for national and state leadership honors an individual who has held leadership and service roles in major national, state, local or community capacities. The recipient will have contributed to the health, resilience and prosperity of the nation, state and society at large, or support a safe global environment.
Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and professor of economics in LSA, received the award in 2022.
She was honored for her work as a nationally renowned labor economist who serves the nation through research and policy engagement, making an impact on women’s labor market experiences and the economic forces shaping the modern family.
The award for public impact honors an individual who has offered their academic research and expertise in tangible service of a major public sector challenge. The recipient will have actively addressed significant challenges in society and have used their academic capacity and expertise to combat such threats, in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders.
Lilia Cortina, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, professor of psychology and of women’s and gender studies in LSA, and professor of management and organizations in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, received the award in 2022.
She was honored for her scholarship on the topic of how people, especially those who face the highest rates of prejudice and discrimination, are treated in the workplace, and for her work on the landmark report on sexual harassment by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
The awards are part of the university’s greater institutional effort to promote and support faculty public engagement, an initiative President Santa J. Ono said aims to help scholars connect their expertise with public groups and showcase the societal value of university research.
“Through their scholarship, leadership and service, our faculty change lives, and impact our world. Whether advancing environmental sustainability, confronting injustice and inequity, pushing the boundaries of medicine, or promoting arts and creativity, their dedication exemplifies our longstanding commitment to serving the public and lifting our society,” Ono said.
Awardees will be recommended to the president by a committee, appointed by Ono, that includes members of the faculty, the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Office of Government Relations.
The awards are open to tenured, tenure-track or research faculty from all U-M campuses, schools, colleges and units. Individual members of other categories of instructional faculty may also be nominated.
An event celebrating the awardees will take place April 4, 2024, in the Ruthven Building’s University Hall.
