Distinguished Teaching Awards

Since 1951, the Distinguished Teaching Awards have recognized outstanding contributions by Indiana University faculty in teaching, pedagogy, curriculum development, and student engagement.

The Distinguished Teaching Awards include the following:

Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching; awarded to honorees who have shown dedication to helping their students reach and expand. Honorees are also masters of their subject, advancing their field and how it is taught. Learn more about the award and past honorees.
Herman Frederic Lieber Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching; awarded to honorees who have proven their excellence in the classroom and beyond. Learn more about the award and past honorees.
President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching; awarded to honorees who represent excellence in teaching, and whose dedication and life’s work have impacted generations of Hoosiers throughout the state. Learn more about the award and past honorees.
Sylvia E. Bowman Award; awarded to honorees who teach various aspects of American culture, in recognition of the impact they make in their fields, on their students, and on our society when they share their expertise on topics of importance to our country and culture. Learn more about the award and past honorees.
Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award; awarded to honorees who have shown outstanding leadership in integrating community and public service into their curricula. These honorees create learning opportunities that go beyond the classroom, engaging students in real world experiences and hands on engagements within their local communities. Learn more about the award and past honorees.

The "Submit a Nomination" portal will go live in September.

Eligibility

Nominees are eligible for these awards if they meet the criteria below:

Academic Appointment

Full-time faculty, regardless of rank or title.

Length of Service

At least six complete years of service at Indiana University, which do not need to be consecutive.

Selection Criteria

The review committee seeks nominations of teachers who have had a long-lasting career of teaching distinction. Honorees typically have received teaching awards from their department, school, or campus before being nominated for this university award and have often been at Indiana University for a significant amount of time.

When reviewing nominations, the review committee places special weight on the following:

Evidence that the nominee has had a profound and positive influence on students
A sustained impact on student learning
Supporting a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences enriching our community and driving innovation through teaching
Innovative teaching
A demonstrated leadership role in teaching (on the nominee’s campus, in the region, nationally and/or internationally)
Breadth of courses taught
The ability to be highly reflective as a teacher in their self-analysis
If your nomination is for the Sylvia E. Bowman award, your dossier should include clear representation of the impact your expertise has had on culture in your specific field and society.
If your nomination is for the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty award, your dossier should display and support your leadership in integrating public service and community into your curricula, and demonstrate the successes of students and communities you serve.

While it is not expected that nominees will have distinguished records in all these areas, nominations are expected to document what distinguished the nominee as a teacher.

Reflect on readiness for one of the Presidents distinguished teaching awards.

Readiness Self-Reflection

Note: The committee recognizes that numerical summaries in student course evaluations may reflect cultural biases, and low participation rates may skew results. As such, numerical summaries will not be used as the primary source of data for evaluating teaching. Additionally, while the committee appreciates the opinions of solicited letters of support, unsolicited letters are weighed more heavily.

Dossier

Dossier materials should be a maximum of 43 pages, not including OCQ data that should be included as an appendix.

Executive Summary

A one-page executive summary that addresses the nominee’s most relevant and impressive teaching qualifications, qualities, and activities.
Nominations can be made by a third party or by the nominee. Self-nominees must submit a letter of support from their department chair, dean, EVCAA or VPFAA. Third-party nominations require a letter from the nominator. The nomination letter or support letter should be no more than two pages.
A nominee statement between five to eight pages double-spaced. The nominee statement should address:
1. The nominee’s teaching philosophy and how it is implemented.
1. How the nominee has elevated the intellectual level of their courses, programs, departments, degrees, curricula, and students.
1. How the nominee has engaged constructive feedback from student evaluations and peer reviews to improve teaching.
1. How the nominee’s teaching activities have contributed to the intellectual growth of the students, the nominee, and the unit.
1. How the nominee embraces a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences to enrich our community and drive innovation.

A teaching vita. The teaching vitae is limited to 15 pages. This is not a standard version of your curriculum vitae. Please include only these categories listed below. Be sure to list in order from newest to oldest.
1. Credentials (required):
  1. Degrees (including when and where)
  1. All full-time faculty appointments at IU
1. List of courses taught in the past 3 years (required):
1. Name of course, type of course (lecture, recitation, online, hybrid, seminar, etc.)
1. Number of students
1. Student level (undergraduates, graduates, etc.)
1. Include the following categories only as relevant to your teaching career (nominee does not have to have each category on the cv):
  - Evidence of Candidate Mentoring Peers
  - Evidence of Student Mentoring
  - Participation in Professional Development Activities Related to Teaching that had/have a profound impact on your teaching
  - Leadership Activities Related to Teaching
  - Discipline-based Research that Impacts Teaching
  - Teaching Related Presentations
  - Campus Presentations related to Teaching
  - IU Presentations related to Teaching
  - Peer-Reviewed Presentations related to Teaching at Conferences
  - Invited Presentations related to Teaching
  - Teaching Related Publications
  - Non-peer ‐reviewed Teaching-Related Publications
  - Peer-reviewed Teaching-Related Publications
  - Other Related Activities, as appropriate

Reflection on a summary of recent OCQ data
The summary should include a table of the quantitative outcomes for at least the last three years and specify themes from the qualitative data. The reflection should analyze the meaning of the data in the context of the nominee’s teaching and student learning. This document should be three to five pages.
NOTE: the raw OCQ data for only the last three years should be included as an appendix .
Up to three peer review letters based on observations of the nominee's teaching. Two-page max for each letter.

Optional dossier materials

Up to three letters of support from students. Two-page max for each letter.

All dossiers will be submitted in one document. Each component should begin on a new page and be clearly identified. Any variation in the materials or format needs to be approved by UHA.

NOTE: the max page limit for required and optional dossier materials is 43 pages, not including the OCQ raw data. Dossiers that exceed this limit will not be considered in the award cycle.

Recognition

Honorees are recognized at a celebration event. They are also featured among other honorees on the University Honors and Awards website and a plaque in the Indiana Memorial Union. Lastly, honorees are given a one-time supplemental pay.

Page Last Updated: May 2, 2025
Please Note: The information displayed is subject to change.
Questions: Reach out to uha@iu.edu
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Distinguished Teaching Awards