Faculty Awards

Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards

The President’s Faculty Excellence Awards for Instruction, Leadership, Outreach and Engagement, and Research, Scholarship and the Arts were first presented at the 1983 Commencement to demonstrate the University’s high regard for meritorious faculty service. In 1994, three awards became part of the Washington State University’s President’s Excellence Awards Program and were named the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards in Instruction, Public Service, and Research, Scholarship and Arts. In 2008, a fourth award in Leadership was added to these awards. The naming honors Washington State University benefactors Lee and Jody Sahlin.

Washington State University, in establishing the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards, wishes to recognize in a tangible way the truly outstanding accomplishments and exceptional individual achievements of its faculty. The Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards are designed to honor those faculty members who epitomize the highest levels of performance and excellence in the pursuit of the University’s goals and thereby in the fulfillment of its mission.

All regularly appointed tenured or tenure-track members of the Washington State University faculty (half time or greater) at the time of election are eligible for this award.

Application Process

Nominators are asked to submit the nomination form, a copy of the nominee’s curriculum vitae, and a narrative of 1000 words or less, stating why the nominee meets the award criteria and is deserving of the award.

The Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards are highly coveted and receive numerous applications each year.  As such, the narrative is a crucial component of each application.  Kindly explain the nominee’s contributions and how broadly the nominee has impacted their discipline and other disciplines by these achievements (e.g. has the nominee launched new avenues of inquiry that did not exist before; did their contributions solve a critical problem that allows the discipline to advance; has their work been influential in public policy?).  Additionally, you may choose to explain how the breadth of the nominee’s impact translates into the lives of an average person.

Please do not submit additional information during the initial phase.  At a later date, for those nominees moving forward for secondary consideration, the nominator(s) will be asked to provide additional supporting information. Representative examples of additional information may include:

• A brief description of the nominee’s position at Washington State University for the past five years and the approximate percentages of assignment to instruction, public service, and research, scholarship or arts.
• An interpretive evaluation of the nominee’s contribution in relation to the award, including a summary of major accomplishments and evidence of impact on the nominee’s field and students.  An assessment of the role of collaborators such as graduate students and co-workers should be included.  In the evaluation, please directly address the criteria for the award (i.e. exceptional effective instruction, organizing or conducting new courses or programs of study, revitalizing existing courses or programs of study, and establishing a national reputation as a leader in instruction).
• Up to three letters of endorsement from individuals who can evaluate the nominee’s contribution relevant to the award.
• A list of honors or recognitions received.
• A list of invited addresses and other honors related to the nominee’s contribution.
• A list of graduate students for whom they served as major professor.
• A recent summary of teaching evaluations, courses taught (going back five years, and including, if available, response rates and college average) and class sizes.

Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction

The Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction is presented to a member of the faculty in recognition of truly outstanding accomplishments in the establishment of excellence in the instructional programs of Washington State University. Activities encompassed by this award may be either outstanding singular accomplishments or a record of excellence over a period of years including:

• Exceptionally effective instruction;
• Organizing or conducting new courses or programs of study;
• Revitalizing existing courses or programs of study; and
• Establishing a national reputation as a leader in instruction.

2023 recipient Corey Johnson
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2022 recipient Jesse Spohnholz
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2021 recipient Carolyn Ross

2020 recipient Erika Offerdahl

2019 recipient Anita Vasavada
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2018 recipient Ray Sun
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2017 recipient Julie Kmec
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Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Leadership

The intent of the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Leadership is to recognize the outstanding performance by a Washington State University faculty member in leadership activities that serve the university and/or the academy. Leadership is defined as any activity that sets the direction of, advances, or benefits a group such as the department, college, university or academy. Activities that primarily benefit the public are more appropriate for the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement.

Activities encompassed by the present award may be either outstanding singular accomplishments or a long record of excellent leadership. In either case, a record of merely serving on committees is not sufficient for the award. Instead, the candidate must have actively directed the activities of the committees on which they served and the committee’s activities must have had an important impact on the group being served.

2023 recipient M. Grant Norton
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2022 recipient Jill McCluskey
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2021 recipient Gregory Crouch

2020 recipient Steve Bollens

2019 recipient Lori Wiest
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2018 recipient Marvin J. Pitts
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2017 recipient Craig Parks
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Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement

The intent of the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement is to recognize the outstanding performance by a Washington State University faculty member toward fulfilling the University’s public service mission, mainly by outreach and engagement into the state or nation. The award serves to honor truly exceptional accomplishments through activities directed toward extending instruction, research, and supporting resources to a broader public. Activities encompassed by this award are either outstanding singular accomplishments or a record of excellence in outreach and engagement including:

• Enhancing the public’s appreciation of Washington State University;
• Having direct and significant impact on the public through a program or project;
• Having an indirect impact on Washington State University’s ability to provide public service;
• Engaging in public service in the state that is “above and beyond” one’s normal job responsibilities; and
• Relating those outreach and engagement activities to the individual’s discipline orientation.

2023 recipient Girish Ganjyal
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2022 recipient Eric Johnson
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2021 recipient Ka’imi Sinclair

2020 recipient Cheryl Schultz

2019 recipient Dale Moore
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2018 recipient Joe Harrison
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2017 recipient Douglas Walsh
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Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts

The Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts is presented to a member of the faculty in recognition of excellence and outstanding accomplishment in research, scholarship or arts. The award will be given for a major research or creative contribution or series of contributions completed at Washington State University. The contribution can be empirical, theoretical, or artistic, but must be widely recognized as highly meritorious and must have had a significant impact. Specific evaluation criteria include the following:

• To what extent is the contribution novel or creative;
• What is the impact of the contribution on the field;
• How significant is the contribution;
• How would the contribution compare to contributions of faculty members at comparable institutions;
• What honors and other recognition have come to the nominee for the contribution; and
• What is the stature of the nominee in the field?

2023 recipient Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe
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2022 recipient Olusola Adesope
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2021 recipient Hans Van Dongen

2020 recipient Greg Yasinitsky

2019 recipient Susmita Bose
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2018 recipient William M. Hamlin
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2017 recipient Douglas Call
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