Awards and Recognition

Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award

The Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award is made possible by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, and offers faculty members the opportunity to receive $5,000 for superior teaching at the college level. The foundation distributes ten awards to professors from Texas colleges and universities. The Faculty Senate's Teaching Effectiveness and Development Committee (TEDC) facilitates the internal nomination process and recommends finalists. The Office of the Provost will select a nominee from the TEDC's recommendations, and will provide the selected faculty member with feedback for a competitive application.

Award

• Each Piper Professor receives a $5,000 award. Ten Piper Professors are selected each year from Texas institutions.

Eligibility and Process:

• All full-time faculty are eligible, but each university may submit only one nomination.
• The Faculty Senate’s Teaching Effectiveness and Development Committee (TEDC) will facilitate the internal nomination process. The Committee has representation from all colleges and schools.
• The ideal candidate must have been continuously teaching at UTEP for at least 3 years and have a record of teaching excellence as evidenced by awards, recognitions, or other documented accomplishments at the department, college, and/or university level.
• The President forwards the final nomination to the Piper Foundation.

Internal nomination:

• Each nominee should submit a completed “Part B” of the nomination form and a current C.V. Part B of the nomination form, along with more information on award eligibility and instructions, can be found at: https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/education/msp/funding/programs/ppnominationform.php
• Nominees should send Part B of the nomination form and C.V. to the attention of Cheryl Ordaz, TEDC Chair, at tedc@utep.edu.
• Once the TEDC recommends a nominee, the nominee will solicit recommendation letters and will work alongside the Office of the Provost to complete Part A of the nomination form.

Previous Award Recipients

• Lawrence M. Lesser, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

2012 Award Recipients:

• Jorge L. Gardea-Torresday, Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science

2010 Award Recipients:

• Lawrence Eugene Murr, Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

2009 Award Recipients:

• James E. Becvar, Professor of Chemistry

2006 Award Recipients:

• Stephen W. Stafford, Professor of Metallurgical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering

2003 Award Recipients:

• Kathleen A. Staudt, Professor of Political Science
• Nancy Marcus, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

2000 Award Recipients:

• Patricia Ainsa, Professor of Education

1995 Award Recipients:

• William Doyle Smith, Professor of Economics and Finance

1980 Award Recipients:

• Joan Phelan Quarm, Professor of English

1971 Award Recipients:

• Charles Leland Sonnichsen, Professor of English

1970 Award Recipients:

• Clyde R. Nichols, Professor of Engineering

1966 Award Recipients:

• Anton H. Berkman, Professor of Biological Sciences

1961 Award Recipients:

• Cecil C. Crawford, Professor of Philosophy

Provost Faculty Fellows

The Provost Faculty Fellows Program is an initiative to increase faculty involvement and expertise in key university frameworks while simultaneously providing those selected with positive development, leadership, and networking opportunities. Making use of an asset-based approach, this initiative maximizes local resources and expands the collective impact of the University mission.

Application Deadline: February 17, 2023. The submission portal will be available November 2022.

About the Program    Current Faculty Fellows

UTEP employs more than 1,300 full-and part-time faculty members. Faculty awards and recognitions highlight faculty who demonstrate excellent community engagement, teaching, research and service.

President's Meritorious Faculty Service Award

This award honors a faculty member who has performed outstanding institutional service to students, colleagues, and/or other University stakeholders, transcending job expectations. Faculty members who have completed, upon nomination, at least seven years of service in a faculty role at UTEP are eligible. The award is accompanied by a $1000 cash prize and a commemorative plaque.

Please check back with us; the next submission period has not been announced.

UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA)

Since 2008, the University of Texas System Board of Regents has annually recognized exemplary educators from every UT institution with a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. The awards honor extraordinary classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction.

Please check back with us; the 2023 submission period has not been announced.

Award Recipients by Institution

President’s Community Engaged Scholarship Award

The President’s Community Engaged Scholarship Award honors a faculty member who has employed the academic resources of the University to address important public problems and contribute to the public good, and who has disseminated the results of that work in scholarly venues.
2019 Award Recipients:

• Eva Moya, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Social Work

2019 Award Nominees:

• Josiah Heyman, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology
• Thenral Mangadu, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences
• Rosa Maldonado, D.Sc., Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
• Ahmed El-Gendy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physics

Please check back with us; the next submission period has not been announced.

About the Award and Nomination Process