The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences

University Awards

University Awards

Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching

Honored for their superior teaching, faculty members are nominated for the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching by present and former students and colleagues and selected by a committee of alumni, students and faculty.

Community Engaged Practitioner Award

The Community Engaged Practitioner Award recognizes staff members who have demonstrated superior commitment to developing, coordinating, and/or sustaining projects, activities, or initiatives involving Ohio State and community partners that enhance engaged scholarship and community impacts.

Community Engaged Scholar Award

The Community Engaged Scholar Award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated engaged scholarship that has impacted communities. Community Engaged Scholars have made significant contribution to Ohio State's culture of engagement, further establishing and strengthening the institution's commitment to supporting communities.

Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award

The Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award celebrates and rewards members of the Ohio State community who are shaping the university with cutting-edge curriculum, mentorship, new programs or policy impact that are making diversity and inclusiveness a part of its best practices by changing daily operations, program components or cultural awareness.

Distinguished Scholar Award

By receiving the Distinguished Scholar Award, senior professors are honored for their exceptional scholarly accomplishments and younger faculty members for their demonstrated scholarly potential.

Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Awards are not made on the basis of long, faithful, or loyal service alone, but rather for service that is truly distinguished. Recipients of this award have provided a broad spectrum of services to the university in both official and unofficial capacities.

Distinguished Staff Award

The Distinguished Staff Award annually honors staff members for their outstanding achievements, service, leadership and dedication to The Ohio State University.

Distinguished University Professor

The Office of Academic Affairs awards the permanent, honorific title of Distinguished University Professor on a competitive basis to full professors who have truly exceptional records in teaching, in research, scholarly or creative work, and in service.

Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award

The Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award, created in 2022, annually recognizes three faculty members with outstanding scholarly activities who show promise of making significant contributions to Ohio State and their field for years to come.

Faculty-to-Faculty Mentorship Award

The Faculty-to-Faculty Mentorship Award annually recognizes a maximum of six tenure-track, clinical or research faculty members who have mentored other faculty members at Ohio State. Their contributions to the development of others through non-administrative roles, across the career life cycle, can include interdisciplinary collaboration, teaching excellence, research guidance, sponsorship to internal/external awards and/or leadership development. This award honors faculty who go beyond traditional expectations by investing time, expertise and care into guiding peers in their professional growth, scholarly development and overall success.

High Impact Program Award

The High Impact Program Award, formerly Community Engaged Program Award, recognizes outstanding achievement by faculty, staff and/or student led programs/initiatives focused on community-university partnerships and impact.

Innovators of the Year

The Innovator of the Year and Early Career Innovator of the Year awards recognize Ohio State researchers who are actively working to promote commercialization of university intellectual property, through invention disclosures filed, patents applied for and/or received, technologies licensed or spin-off companies formed. The Next Generation Innovator of the Year award is open to postdocs along with undergraduate and graduate students. The award recognizes innovation and entrepreneurship that has contributed to the development or commercialization of a new technology.

President and Provost’s Award for Distinguished Faculty Service

The President and Provost’s Award for Distinguished Faculty Service annually recognizes up to three tenure-track, clinical, or research faculty members who have been at Ohio State for at least five years.  Their contributions to the development and implementation of university policies and programs, through non-administrative roles, have been extensive and have made documentable impact on the quality of  the university.

Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer

The Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer annually recognizes a maximum of six lecturers, senior lecturers, or other associated faculty members for their teaching excellence.

Provost’s Midcareer Scholars: Scarlet and Gray Associate Professors

The Provost’s Midcareer Scholars: Scarlet and Gray Associate Professor Program supports tenure-track faculty who have recently been appointed to the rank of associate professor with tenure. The program acknowledges and rewards scholarly, teaching and serving excellence.