External Awards

Why Apply for 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: Dennis Trout, recipient of the highly prestigious Rome Prize, with President Choi at the 2024 Faculty Recognition Awards. 

Dennis Trout and President Choi

Recent Highly Prestigious Award Winners

Utku Asuroglu

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.

Dennis Trout

Dennis Trout

Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies and department chair in the Department of Classics, Archaeology, and Religion

Devin Fergus

Devon Fergus

Arvarh E. Strickland Distinguished Professor of History and Black Studies

Carol Ward

Curators’ Distinguished Professor, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences and Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology

Stephen Karian

Stephen Karian

Professor and Catherine Paine Middlebush Chair of English

Martha Kelly

Martha Kelly

Associate Professor of Russian

Recent Nationally Recognized Faculty

Course Release Program

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.

If granted, the Provost’s Office will provide the department with $7,500 per course for teaching replacement of the course.

Please note: Faculty can only receive 2 total course releases from Provost course release programs (Great Books and Highly Prestigious Awards) in a 3-year period. If faculty have applied to other programs that grant course releases (college-level programs, cohort programs, etc.), 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.

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

Recognizing Faculty Excellence

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 President and Provost host this week-long celebration that will featuring a combination of new and long-established events for all faculty and some for select audiences that focus on specific faculty accomplishments and awards.

Our third annual Faculty Excellence Week events will be held April 24-May 1, 2024. This week-long celebration will feature events open to all faculty members such as a Kick-Off Event with Faculty Council and a Faculty Book Authors Celebration. We look forward to celebrating faculty achievements throughout the week, ending with the William T. Kemper Fellowships Ceremony and Reception on May 1.

Webinars & Awards to Consider

Upcoming Webinars

 

Previous Webinar Recordings

  • Fulbright Opportunities for Faculty: STEM Fields (March 12, 2024) View session recording
  • AAAS Fellowship (Feb. 28, 2024). AAAS Fellows Walter Gassmann and Melvin Oliver share advice for pursuing this award. View session recording
  • The Guggenheim Fellowship: Steps in Applying ( Feb 7, 2024). Andre Bernard, VP and Secretary of the Guggenheim Foundation, discusses best practices for applying. View session recording
  • Fulbright Opportunities for Faculty: Focus on Humanities (November 13, 2023) recording of this session
  • Fulbright Opportunities for Faculty: STEM Fields (March 13, 2023) View session recording
  • Building a Department Awards Culture (Feb 22, 2023): Best practices from Jamie Arndt, Brian Houston, and Vanya Krieckhaus. View webinar recording
  • Apply for an NEH Fellowship: An Informal Session with Professor Steve Karian. View webinar recording
  • Nuts and Bolts of the Fulbright (Sept 28, 2022). View session recording
  • Fulbright Opportunities for Faculty: Arts and Humanities (March 23, 2022). View session recording

 

Highly Prestigious Awards that are a good match for MU faculty, either application or nomination (all awards may be found in the database at the bottom of the page):

 

Application

 

Nomination

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Search for External Awards

To search for the almost-18K external awards in the database, go to “Faculty Insights,” which is located here: https://insight.discovery.academicanalytics.com/missouri/browseawards. You can use the various drop-down menus to limit or expand your search. If you want to see what awards you match best for, click “My Profile” and “Suggested Awards.”

Need Help with External Awards?

We have a team of people ready to help you as you need it. Please reach out to any of us with any questions: