Faculty & Staff Convocation

Convocation is a time for the university community to come together and officially usher in the academic year by celebrating academic and service honorees, selected by their peers, to be awarded for their achievements.

Guests who do not have assigned campus parking should plan to park in visitor parking at Mowatt Lane Garage or Regents Garage. Please see the virtual campus map here.

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Recipients of the President’s Medal, President’s Distinguished Service Awards, Distinguished University Professors, Distinguished Scholar-Teachers, Sharon La Voy Data Impact, and Kirwan Teaching Awards are recognized at Convocation.

Convocation 2023 Program

President’s Medal

The President’s Medal is the highest honor bestowed upon a member of the university community. It is intended to recognize extraordinary contributions to the intellectual, social, and cultural life of Maryland.

Gloria Aparicio Blackwell

Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize

This prize is presented annually to a member of the faculty in recognition of a highly significant work of research, scholarship or artistic creativity that has been achieved within the past three years.

Donald Milton

Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award

This prize is presented annually in recognition of the faculty or staff member who has made exceptional contributions to the quality of undergraduate education at the university.

Madlen Simon

President's Distinguished Service Award

The President’s Distinguished Service Awards recognize exceptional performance, leadership and service by members of the university staff. The recipients of this award have a record of exemplary performance and distinctive contributions to the operation of an administrative, academic, research or service unit on campus.

Claudia Funes
Brian Horick
Ramsey Jabaji
Valerie LaHoud
David Mitchell
Heather Teitelbaum

Sharon La Voy Data Impact Award

The Sharon A. La Voy Data Impact Award recognizes faculty or staff members who have made exceptional contributions to the University of Maryland community through effective utilization of institutional data.

Kate Siplon Blanch

Provost’s Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty

The Provost's Excellence Awards for Professional Track Faculty honor consistently excellent contributions from full-time faculty who have served for at least five years and do not have nor are eligible for tenure. Honorees are recognized in one of the three core areas of academic activity: teaching, research and service.

Joe Bailey
Hilary Bierman
Evelyn Canabal-Torres
Brian Connor
Nazish Salahuddin
Jason Smith
Julie Taddeo

Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Winners of the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher awards represent a broad range of academic excellence. The program honors tenured faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments as educators. Each scholar will present a lecture during the school year.

T. Leigh Anenson
Daniel Chazan
Don DeVoe
Julie Greene
Paul Jaeger
Chris Laskowski
Valerie Orlando
Scot Reese
Efrain Rodriguez

Distinguished University Professor

The highest honor the university bestows, this title is conferred in recognition of extraordinary achievement as a teacher, scholar, and public servant.

Ralph Dubayah
Sharon Fries-Britt
Liangbing Hu
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Tom Porter
Sennur Ulukus
Lai-Xi Wang

Convocation 2022 Awardees

Convocation 2021 Awardees

Convocation 2020 Awardees

Contact Us

Office of Special Events

301.405.4638 / events@umd.edu

About

The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 40,700 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 400,000 alumni all dedicated to the pursuit of Fearless Ideas. Located just outside Washington, D.C., we discover and share new knowledge every day through our renowned research enterprise and programs in academics, the arts and athletics. And we are committed to social entrepreneurship as the nation’s first “Do Good” campus.

Academics

Spanning 12 schools and colleges, Maryland offers more than 300 degree-granting programs, many of them ranked among the best in the country. Our faculty includes two Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 58 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. And our students, who include the highest achievers in the state and nation, enjoy experiences unique to our location just outside the nation’s capital, including internships, research, and leadership and service opportunities.

Research and Innovation

The University of Maryland is one of the world’s premier research institutions. With our strategic location and scores of partnerships with government and businesses, UMD conducts groundbreaking research on some of the biggest challenges facing our global community, including cybersecurity and terrorism, bioengineering, public health equity, food safety and climate change. We strive to discover new knowledge and put it to work through innovation and entrepreneurship, advancing economic development and transforming lives.

The newly launched Innovation Gateway will guide you to the resources, programs, partners, and spaces you need to activate and scale your fearless ideas into innovations that launch new ventures, catalyze growth, and advance economic development.

Arts

At the University of Maryland, the arts, the humanities and the sciences intersect to address important societal issues and shed new light on the human experience. Our vibrant campus arts community collaborates with local and national cultural organizations such as the Phillips Collection, Kennedy Center and Folger Shakespeare Library. Student and faculty artists, designers, historians, writers and performers are exploring new media, presenting new perspectives, investigating new techniques and engaging new audiences.

Student Life

The Terp experience extends beyond classrooms, labs and studios. It encompasses residence halls and dining halls, clubs and sports, fraternities and sororities, campus events and performances, and countless off-campus destinations. Maryland touts 800-plus student organizations, dozens of prestigious living and learning communities, and countless other ways to get involved. Students here can create a unique identity and grow as individuals, even as they’re part of a close-knit and diverse community.