Provost’s Outstanding Service Award

Provost’s Outstanding Service Award

The Provost’s Outstanding Service Award is designed to honor and recognize those who have demonstrated excellence in service to the University of Connecticut. The award will honor faculty and staff whose service is exemplary and has made an indelible impact in one or more areas to enhance the University’s mission in teaching, research, service, or engagement.

By honoring such individuals, the University demonstrates its commitment to service as an activity essential to its mission and to its governance, provides incentive for faculty to pursue activities that enhance the quality of their service, and emphasizes the importance of outstanding service.

There will be two categories each year:

  • Emerging Provost’s Outstanding Service Award
  • Distinguished Provost’s Outstanding Service Award

Nominations for the 2025-2026 awards are due to provost@uconn.edu by 5:00 p.m. on January 30, 2026

Nomination Materials

  • One Letter of Nomination that details in what ways the nominee has made long-term and extraordinary service contributions to the University in committees and/or University volunteer activities. This letter should include details on the level of impact the nominee’s activities have had on the University, and how their service has exceeded the expectations of their position.
  • List of the Service Contributions the nominee has made to the University, with various kinds of service distributed among categories.
  • A minimum of two additional Letters of Support (in addition to the Letter of Nomination) from persons who have the ability to judge the significance of the nominee’s service contributions. We recommend at least one letter come from outside the nominee’s department or college/school to demonstrate the breadth of the nominee’s service.
  • Submit via email to provost@uconn.edu by January 30, 2026.

Eligibility and Award Details

  • The nominee for the Emerging Provost’s Outstanding Service Award must be a current UConn faculty or staff member who has been employed at UConn for at least five years and no more than ten years
  • The nominee for the Distinguished Provost’s Outstanding Service Award must be a current UConn faculty or staff member who has been employed at UConn for ten or more years
  • Previous recipients are not eligible
  • Self-nominations will normally not be accepted
  • There may be up to two awards each year, one per category

Awards Committee

Strong contributors to University Service, including one person who has been a past Service Award recipient.

2025

Professor Isaac (Morty) Ortega, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment

Ada Rivera, Director, UConn Hartford Academic Achievement Center

Jim Hill, Director, Bachelor of General Studies Program

2024

Distinguished Category:

Caroline Dealy, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Dental Medicine; Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine; Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine 

Steven Zinn, Department of Animal Science

Emerging Category:

Michael Finiguerra, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

2023

Preston Britner, Human Development and Family Sciences

2022

Jason Oliver Chang, History and Asian American Studies, Asian and Asian American Studies Institute
Lawrence Silbart, Allied Health Sciences

2021

Carol Atkinson-Palombo, Geography, Urban and Community Studies, and Environmental Studies
Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, History, and Center for the Study of Popular Music

2020

Mohamed Hussein, Accounting
Thomas Long, Nursing

2019

Eric Schultz, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Jaci VanHeest, Educational Psychology

2018

Pamela Bedore, English
Michael Darre, Animal Science
Carol Polifroni, Nursing

2017

José Manautou, Pharmaceutical Sciences

2015

Hedley Freake, Nutritional Sciences
Ernesto (“Ernie”) Zirakzadeh, Political Science