Purpose
To recognize MU faculty who have demonstrated exemplary university citizenship through faculty leadership, service, or mentoring on the MU campus.
The Provost’s Faculty Leadership Award recognizes faculty who have provided exemplary leadership for the university. Examples of areas of leadership include, but are not limited to, faculty/shared governance, major curricular reform or program development, and fostering collaboration between or among departments, divisions or schools.
The Provost’s Faculty Service Award recognizes MU faculty for distinguished service. Nominees should have made exceptional contributions to achieving one or more goals of the university, while embodying the values of the university. Examples of service include, but are not limited to, committee work, campus-wide programming or initiatives, and community service at local, state, regional, national, or international level.
The Provost’s Faculty Mentoring Award recognizes faculty who have provided exemplary mentorship to their Mizzou faculty colleagues. Nominees should have made exceptional contributions to the mentorship of their faculty colleagues, while embodying the values of the university. Nomination materials should include specific examples of the faculty member mentoring their colleagues in teaching, research, service, leadership, and/or outreach and engagement and detail the impact the mentorship had on the colleagues.
Award
Up to one Provost’s Faculty Leadership Award, up to one Provost’s Faculty Service Award, and up to one Provost’s Faculty Mentoring Award will be given each year. Each award will include a $1,000 prize, less applicable taxes.
Eligibility
The service and mentoring awards are open to all benefits-eligible faculty members not holding administrative appointments above a department or division chair or head. All benefits-eligible faculty members holding administrative appointments at or above a department or division chair or head, are not eligible for the leadership award. Nominees for the Provost’s Faculty Service Award may not hold appointments that are more than 50% administrative.
Nomination and Submission
This section outlines who can nominate individuals for this award and what to include in the nomination packet. As you prepare packets, please keep the purpose of the award and any listed criteria in mind. In many cases, there are length guidelines in place for packet components (e.g., include a letter of nomination that is no longer than 2 pages, double-spaced). The overall length of a packet is not of importance to the selection committee – the focus should instead be on providing convincing evidence of the nominee’s accomplishments and contributions. An unsuccessful nomination packet may be updated and resubmitted up to three times within a 5-year period, per award (i.e., Professor Truman the Tiger is not selected in the first year the packet is submitted and can now be resubmitted for the same award two more times within the next 4 years).
Who can Nominate for this Award:
Faculty colleagues, students, departments, schools/colleges, or recognized campus organizations may nominate individuals.
What to Include in the Nomination Packet for this Award:
Nomination materials should include:
- Submission Requirements Form
- Nomination/Cover Letter (limited to 2 double-spaced pages)
- describing in detail the activities and accomplishments that qualify the candidate for nomination
- Be sure to include a statement regarding the impact of the nominee’s activities
- Supporting letters (no more than three)
- Nominee’s curriculum vitae (limited to most recent 5 years)
Submission Process and Deadline:
The annual deadline for this award is January 15 (due the following business day when falls on a weekend or holiday).
Nomination packets for this award must be submitted by the Divisional Dean, who may establish an earlier deadline. The Divisional Dean will submit the nomination packet as a single PDF attachment via email to UMCProvostAwards@missouri.edu. The PDF file should be named as follows: YearProvCtz-Lead_LastFirst or YearProvCtz-Svc_LastFirst or YearProvCtz-Mtr_LastName (e.g., 2026ProvCtz-Lead_TigerTruman or 2026ProvCtz-Svc_TigerTruman or 2026ProvCtz-Mtr_TigerTruman). Original hard copies of the proposal packet are no longer required.
Please contact us at UMCProvostAwards@missouri.edu with any questions.
Recipients of the Provost Awards for University Citizenship
Leadership
- 2025 – Botswana Blackburn, Health Sciences
- 2024 – David Schulz, Biological Sciences
- 2023 – Christopher Slaten, Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology
- 2022 – Mark Horvit, Journalism Professions
- 2021 – Leigh Neier, Learning, Teaching & Curriculum
- 2020 – No Nominations submitted
- 2019 – Elisa Glick, English/Women’s Gender Studies
- 2018 – Ben Trachtenberg, Law
- 2017 – Margaret Duffy, Journalism
Service
- 2025 – Anne Stanton, Visual Studies
- 2024 – Stephen Klien, Communications
- 2023 – Keith Greenwood, Journalism Studies
- 2022 – Casandra Harper Morris, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis
- 2021 – Gerald Summers, Biological Sciences
- 2020 – Cristina Mislán, Journalism Studies
- 2019 – Tina Bloom, Nursing
- 2018 – Thomas Phillips, Biological Sciences
- 2017 – Pam Hinton, Nutrition & Exercise Physiology
Mentoring
- 2025 – Paula McSteen, Biological Science
- 2024 – Amy Simons, Journalism