George Washington University honored three years of remarkable faculty achievement in teaching, research and service to the university at its 12th annual Faculty Honors Ceremony, held in person for the first time since 2019. The ceremony brought more than 200 faculty members, family and friends to the Jack Morton Auditorium, and many more watched live online as honorees from 2020, 2021 and 2022 received their accolades.
“Events like this ceremony are an important opportunity to mark the accomplishments of our faculty, whose teaching, scholarship and research are critical to GW’s teaching, research, patient care and service programs,” GW President Mark S. Wrighton said.
Awardees ranged from graduate teaching assistants to full professors across a host of disciplines. Some were nominated by their students, others by their peers and supervisors. The ceremony also commemorated faculty members reaching their “silver anniversary”—25 years of continuous full-time service at GW—and those transitioning to emeritus status, as well as honoring faculty who received notable external awards or fellowships. (A program from the event, including the full list of honorees, is here.)
“We are a mission-based organization that changes the world by doing essentially two things: training future leaders of the world and conducting and disseminating impactful research,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Christopher Alan Bracey. “Today celebrates the single most important ingredient in our efforts to accomplish these two goals: our faculty.”
Professor of English, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Theatre, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures Alexa Alice Joubin said being able to celebrate in person with peers was “really meaningful.”
Joubin, who won both the 2022 Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Award for Best Assignment Design and the 2022 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Faculty Prize for Scholarship, said the event provided an opportunity to connect with—and appreciate the work of—colleagues outside of her field.
“I would never have crossed paths with an astrophysicist, for example,” she said. (Associate Professor of Physics Alexander van der Horst won the 2022 Joseph P. Dymond WID Distinguished Teaching Award.)
Multiple awardees said they appreciated the way the ceremony brought attention to what Joubin called “the quiet work” of scholarship, teaching and service.
“You do these things on an everyday basis and you don’t really [notice] that you’re doing anything in particular, so for someone to take the time out to recognize your work is very touching,” said Associate Professor of Management N. Sharon Hill, who won the 2022 Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) Award for Research Mentorship.
Being able to celebrate with her colleagues and cheer on their achievements in person was particularly special, Hill said. “It’s like a renewal.”
A partial list of award winners is below. To see the full list of faculty award winners, finalists and distinguished external awardees, including new faculty emeriti and the Silver Anniversary Faculty Awards, please see the 12th Annual Faculty Honors Ceremony program.
Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prizes
2020
- Sarah Binder, political science, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS)
Scholarship - Forrest Maltzman, political science, CCAS
University Service - Jason Zara, biomedical engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
Teaching
2021
- Lisa Bowleg, psychology and brain sciences, CCAS
Scholarship - Shira Robinson, history and international affairs, CCAS and Elliott School of International Affairs
Teaching - Carol Sigelman, psychology and brain sciences, CCAS
University Service
2022
- Maria Frawley, English, CCAS
Teaching - Alexa Alice Joubin, English; women’s, gender and sexuality studies; theatre; international affairs; and East Asian languages and literatures, CCAS and Elliott School
Scholarship - Marie Price, geography and international affairs, CCAS and Elliott School
University Service
