Selection Process

Each year, the president or a designee will request nominations from:

• Current and past Presidential Societal Impact Scholars
• Senior vice presidents and Academic Senate president
• Council of Academic Deans
• The faculty at-large

A committee, designated by the president, will narrow submissions to 10 nominees and then forward the names of those individuals to the president, who will select awardees.

Scholar Benefits

• One-time, $10,000 cash award
• Permanent membership in the Impact Scholars Society, a group that will grow as new scholars are selected
• Use of the Presidential Societal Impact Scholar title
• Recognition at university and college commencements
• Communications support (including a dedicated program web page with scholar profiles and individualized support to help scholars continue promoting and translating their work)
• Opportunities to advise the president and the university on the evolution of this program and other efforts to support and promote public impact research and creative work
• Attendance at an annual Presidential Societal Impact Scholars Society gathering
• Scholars become eligible to be re-nominated three years after receiving an award (for example, a scholar named in 2022 would become eligible to be re-nominated in 2025)

Scholar Responsibilities

• Periodically meet to discuss how to encourage and support faculty to influence public policy and society, and translate and disseminate their works to audiences outside the university and their academic field; based on these discussions, make recommendations to the president and the university community
• Recommend future scholars to the president
• Be available, when requested by the president, to make public appearances
• Be a voice for recognizing the value of societal impact scholarship, research and creative works in home colleges, departments, and fields