External Awards

External awards are a fantastic way for faculty to both develop and showcase their research. Sometimes an external award is given for a project in development, while other times it is a recognition for a career’s worth of work. Either way, it often provides funding, community, prestige, and career advancement. The Provost’s Office is dedicated to helping faculty find, apply for, and receive external awards. See below for all of our resources. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any assistance.

Pictured on left: President Choi, Provost Martens and Board of Curators Chair Todd Graves honor Signe Cohen at the Faculty Recognition Awards for being named a National Humanities Center Fellow.

Highly Prestigious Awards

President Choi has announced that faculty who receive a “highly prestigious” award (as designated by the AAU) beginning in 2022 will receive an award of $10,000.

Faculty Excellence Week

The fifth annual Faculty Excellence week will be May 4 – May 11, 2026. This week-long celebration kicks off May 4 with an appreciation luncheon co-hosted by leadership and Faculty Council. During the week, leaders will host a variety of events that focus on specific faculty accomplishments and awards. View the full schedule.

Faculty who are in a strong position to apply for a “highly prestigious” award (as defined by the AAU) can apply for teaching release for one course in order to prepare this application. Only faculty who are preparing their own awards application – not nomination packets for another faculty member – are eligible for this program.

Applicants should submit a cover letter (indicating their eligibility for the award and timeline for award submission) and a CV to MUProvost@missouri.edu with subject line “Provost Highly Prestigious Awards Support Program” by February 1 (for teaching release in fall) or September 1 (for teaching release in spring).

A short letter of support from the faculty member’s supervisor (e.g., department chair) should be submitted separately by the supervisor. This letter should include an explanation of why this support is necessary at this time as well as an agreement to use the course release funds for replacement instruction. Please note that if the faculty member is on a joint appointment, the letter must come from the chair of the department from which the course release will be taken. However, the letter should indicate that both department chairs are aware of the course release request. The department chairs must manage the number of course releases their faculty are receiving, keeping in mind the needs of the department, workload considerations, the requirements of the college, etc.

If granted, the Provost’s Office will provide the department with $7,500 per course for teaching replacement of the course. Faculty should let Dr. Kuby know when the award application has been submitted and when they learn the outcome.

Questions? Email Associate Provost for Faculty Success, Candace Kuby.

Noah Heringman

Curators’ Professor of English in the College of Arts and Science

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship

Gary Stacey

Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator

2025 Stephen Hales Prize

Deborah M. Pearsall

Professor emerita in the Department of Anthropology

2025 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Signe Cohen

Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Classics, Archaeology, and Religion

2025-26 National Humanities Center Fellow

Utku Asuroglu

Asuroglu was awarded the fellowship as a postdoctoral teaching fellow in composition, and was recently hired as a MizzouFoward faculty member in the School of Music.

2024 Guggenheim Fellow

Stephen Karian

Professor and Catherine Paine Middlebush Chair of English

2022-23 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow

List of All Mizzou Highly Prestigious Award Winners

Sam von Gillern: Fulbright Scholar to Chile 26/27

Paul de Figueiredo: AAAS Fellow 2025

Roman Ganta: AAAS Fellow 2025

Wesley Warren: AAAS Fellow 2025

Nicholas Gaspelin: Association for Psychological Science Fellow 2026

Jordan Booker: Association for Psychological Science Fellow 2026

John Frymire: Harold J. Grimm Prize 2025

Lauren Sullivan: NSF CAREER 2025

Bill Ma: Heat Transfer Memorial Award 2025

Susanta Behura: Fulbright Scholar to India 25/26

Sachin Handa: Fulbright Scholar to India 25/26

Laura Morett: Fulbright Scholar to Turkey 25/26

Ann Pease: Fulbright Scholar to Paraguay 25/26

Ann Sales: Fulbright Scholar to Zambia, S. Africa, Malaysia 25/26

List of all Mizzou Prestigious Award Winners

Share with us submitted nominations and applications for highly prestigious and prestigious awards

Prestigious and highly prestigious academic awards are designated by the National Research Council (NRC) to assess faculty excellence and institutional standing, particularly for the AAU. The Association of American Universities ranks universities by collecting the number of faculty members, by institution, receiving awards, fellowships, and memberships from the NRC highly prestigious list.

Search and filter the lists of NRC designated awards by association or award name, and click the URL for specific award information.

The external awards team encourages faculty to apply for any award, whether or not designated by the NRC. All scholarly awards bring prestige and recognition to Mizzou’s faculty. Chairs and administrators can help faculty search the extensive Academic Analytics database for suitable awards. Please contact the external awards team if you need assistance. A list of all awards is at the bottom of the page.

NRC Prestigious Awards NRC Highly Prestigious Awards

Featured Recent Awardees:

Wes Warren: Fellows Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science. Academy of Science, St. Louis 2026
Jim Schiffbauer: Fellow of the Paleontological Society
Raghuraman Kannan: 2025 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Henry Nguyen: 2025 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Noah Heringman has been elected 2025 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Robert Bautista: 2026 Fellow American Medical Informatics Association
Knoo Lee: 2026 Fellow American Medical Informatics Association
Alisha Johnson: 2025 Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Award

List of All Mizzou National Award Winners

American Academy of Arts & Sciences Nomination NSF CAREER: Open - July 2026

Events:

The External Awards team is hosting roundtable sessions for faculty interested in pursuing awards. Current Mizzou faculty with award wins join and provide guidance as mentors:

April 27, 2026: Roundtable Mentor session with Mizzou award winners of ASA Fellow, Fellow of the ASPB, CSSA Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, NSF CAREER, NEH Fellowship. Open to all faculty interested in these awards. 12-12:45 Stotler Lounge, N214A.
March 16, 2026: National Academies Panel Session. Three Mizzou National Academy members led a discussion on best practices for excellence in works and activities, research, service and engagement, followed by a Q&A.
Feb. 6, 2026: AAAS Member/Fellow. AAAS Fellows Walter Gassman, Felix Fritschi, Rajiv Mohan, and Scott Peck provided tips, insight on pathways to success, and engaged in Q&A.
Oct. 25, 2025: NEH Fellowship, NHC Fellow, American Physiological Society Awards, APA Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, Humboldt Research Fellowship, and NSF CAREER. Noah Heringman, Nicole Nichols, Nicole Campione-Barr, David Crespy, Justin Walensky, and Kiruba Krishnaswamy were available for discussion and Q&A.

Previous Webinars:

Previous Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Specialist webinars can be found on the Mizzou International Programs website
Links to all past webinars

Awards that are a good match for MU faculty. See bottom of page for a searchable list all all awards in the Academic Analytics inventory:

Highly Prestigious Application

ACLS Fellows, American Council of Learned Societies: July – Sept
CASBS Residency Fellow, Stanford University: Aug – Nov
Guggenheim Fellowship, JS Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: Aug – Sept
HHMI Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Dec – March; sporadic, when announced in next 5 years
NEH Fellowship: Jan – April
NEH Fellowships at Independent Research Institutions: May – Aug
NHC Fellowship: July – October
Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome: Aug – Nov