Faculty and Scholar Excellence at Illinois 2026

The Sage Publications/RMD/Lawrence R. James Early Career Award recognizes early career scholars who have made distinguished contributions to research methods research, practice, education, and service.

The agInnovation Excellence Awards recognize collaborative spirit, visionary leadership, and groundbreaking research across the Land-Grant university system.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program supports scientists and engineers who show exceptional ability and promise to conduct basic research.

The Alabama Writers Hall of Fame honors writers whose work has earned national or international recognition in the literary arts.

Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field.

The Alfred Bader Award recognizes outstanding contributions to bioorganic or bioinorganic chemistry.

The Languir Lectureship celebrates leading researchers in the interdisciplinary field of colloid and surface chemistry to recognize their exceptional research.

The Nano Lectureship honors two outstanding early career investigators conducting research in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

This award recognizes outstanding contributions to theriogenology that advance the discipline’s understanding, visibility, mentorship, and training, rather than lifetime achievement.

The James A. Rawley Prize is awarded by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the best book in Atlantic history.

The ACRM Women in Rehabilitation Science Award is given in recognition of world-class rehabilitation research conducted by a female scientist.

This award honors U.S.-based medical and biological engineers who demonstrate significant professional accomplishment and exceptional leadership potential.

This award is presented for an outstanding singular or sustained technical or scientific contribution by an individual in thermophysics.

The Andrew Gemant Award recognizes the accomplishments of a person who has made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics.

This award recognizes pioneering contributions to the frontiers of engineering that have led to a breakthrough in existing technology, or to new applications or new areas of engineering endeavor.

This award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of mechanics through research, practice, teaching and/or outstanding leadership.

The Distinguished Naturalist Award honors significant contributions to the knowledge of a particular ecosystem or group of organisms.

This award honors individuals within five years of completing their doctoral or postdoctoral training who have made significant scientific contributions beyond the dissertation in communication sciences and disorders or related fields.

This award honors early-career scientists and engineers within seven years of their highest degree who have made outstanding contributions to plasma science and technology.

This award honors an AVMA member veterinarian for significant contributions to patient-oriented clinical research that advances the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of animal diseases.

The AlA Illinois Honor Awards celebrate people and projects that embody the transformative power of design, professional excellence, and service to our communities.

The ACM Software System Award recognizes development of a software system that has had a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both.

The APS Rising Star designation honors early-career researchers whose innovative work has advanced the field.

This award recognizes a person who has distinguished themselves through creativity and rigor in identifying and addressing important computational social science research topics of societal impact.

The APEX Award recognizes outstanding writing, publications, campaigns, programs, design, and media.

The Bibliographical Society of America Justin G. Schiller Prize recognizes excellence in bibliographic studies of pre-1951 children’s literature.

The Rising Star Junior Faculty Award celebrates a select group of exceptional junior principal investigators each year.

The Moore Distinguished Scholar recognizes distinguished researchers to visit Caltech for a designated time to focus on research.

The Teacher-Scholar Award recognizes faculty who are within the first five years of their academic careers, have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship and are deeply committed to education.

The Medal of Excellence in Composite Materials celebrates excellence on visionary impact, novel theories, discovery of patented processes, and/or exceptional publications.

The CISAB Exemplar Award recognizes the careers of scientists who set outstanding examples of integrating different perspectives in the study of Animal Behavior.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture.

The Craver Award recognizes the efforts of young professional spectroscopists that have made significant contributions in applied analytical vibrational spectroscopy.

The PAMI Distinguished Researcher Award is awarded to candidates whose research contributions have significantly contributed to the progress of Computer Vision.

Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering to allow the nation’s most promising early-career scientists and engineers flexible funding to take risks and explore new frontiers in their fields of study.

The Young Faculty Award identifies and engages rising stars in junior research positions in their development of research ideas in the context of national security needs.

The Carl Wagner Memorial Award recognizes mid-career achievement, excellence, and significant contributions to teaching or mentorship in education, industry, or government.

The Endocrine Society Laureate Awards recognize endocrinologists for research, service, leadership, mentorship, innovation, global impact, translation of science to practice, and lifetime achievement.

The Endocrine Society Laureate Award for Distinguished Service recognizes a practicing endocrinologist for extraordinary contributions to the endocrine or broader medical community.

The Endocrine Society Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award recognizes an exceptionally promising young clinical or basic investigator.

The Fulbright Program, the U.S. Government’s flagship international exchange program, is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

The Google Academic Research Award supports foundational and applied research in computing and technology worldwide.

The Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award recognizes the significance and promise of work by early-career faculty.

Guggenheim Fellowships are to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) RAS Early Academic Career Award recognizes academics whose contributions have had a major impact on robotics or automation.

The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Operations Research Teaching Award is an annual national award recognizing excellence in teaching operations research.

The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Simulation Division Teaching Award recognizes faculty for excellence in teaching modeling and simulation courses.

The Inter-American Photochemical Society I-APS Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding contributions to photochemical and photophysical sciences within the past ten years of a member’s career.

The IUVSTA Prize for Technology is awarded every three years to recognize internationally acclaimed achievements in technology and instrumentation in its fields of interest.

The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Award recognizes an outstanding chemical scientist under 40 and within 10 years of earning their PhD.

The Labor and Employment Relations Association John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes the best academic contribution to international or comparative labor and employment research.

The Labor and Employment Relations Association Susan C. Eaton Outstanding Scholar-Practitioner Award recognizes a member who has achieved distinction as both a practitioner and a scholar in the field.

The Materials Engineering and Sciences Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Owens Corning Early Career Award recognizes outstanding independent contributions to materials science and engineering.

The Midwestern History Association Jon Gjerde Prize is awarded annually to the author(s) of the best book on Midwestern history published in the previous year.

The National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow designation recognizes scientists age 45 or younger selected to participate in Kavli Frontiers of Science symposia for their exceptional research across disciplines.

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency, and one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. NEH Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities, scholars, general audiences or both.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

The National Science Foundation Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the U.S. government’s highest honor for outstanding early-career scientists and engineers.

The Research Corporation for Science Advancement Cottrell Scholar Award recognizes outstanding early-career teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy for innovative research, excellence in teaching, and potential for academic leadership.

The Royal Entomological Society Wigglesworth Memorial Lecture and Award recognizes outstanding service to the science of entomology.

The Society for Experimental Biology Woolhouse Lecturer and Medalist honor recognizes distinguished scientists for excellence in plant biology research.

The UC Berkeley Somorjai Visiting Miller Professor program brings promising or eminent scientists to campus for short-term collaborative, interdisciplinary research.

The Strategic Technology Analysis Center STAC White Lab Coat Award recognizes an expert for sustained technical contributions advancing financial technology and market systems.

The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society Brimacombe Medal recognizes outstanding achievements in materials process engineering.

The Kurt-Koffka award honors scientists who have advanced the fields of perception or developmental psychology to an extraordinary extent.

Academy members are world leaders in the arts and sciences, business, philanthropy, and public affairs. Elected members join with other experts to explore challenges facing society, identify solutions, and promote nonpartisan recommendations that advance the public good.

Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications. Among the goals of the AAAS are to enhance communication among scientists, engineers, and the public and to promote and defend the integrity of science and its use.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society.

Distinguished membership is awarded to a Diplomate of the College who has rendered exceptionally distinguished service to the College or who has contributed in an exemplary manner to veterinary pathology.

Honorary membership recognizes individuals, often non-members, who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of veterinary pathology.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions to the atmospheric, oceanic, or hydrologic sciences or their applications over a substantial period of years.

The fellow designation recognizes members who have demonstrated excellence and sustained contributions to pharmacology and experimental therapeutics through their research, service, mentorship, and leadership in the field.

The Fellows program recognizes ACL members whose contributions to the field have been extraordinary in scientific and technical excellence, service to the association and community, and educational or outreach activities with broader impact.

Distinguished Membership recognizes members who have achieved significant accomplishments or have made a significant impact on the computing field.

Fellows are recognized as the top 1% of ACM members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology

Senior Member status recognizes AAAI members who have achieved significant accomplishments in the field of artificial intelligence through scholarship, leadership, and professional service.

Fellows are recognized for excellence in science and contributions to the expansion of the field of biophysics.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions to entomology through research, teaching, extension, administration, military service, public engagement, and science policy, with career accomplishments that inspire the field.

Fellow recognizes an unusual distinction in the profession and is conferred only by invitation of the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments of a IEEE member in any of the IEEE fields of interest.

Senior members are recognized for demonstrated professional maturity, significant performance, and substantial experience in IEEE-designated fields, including engineering, science, education, and technical leadership.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding and extraordinary contributions in fields of interest to the International Federation of Automatic Control.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions to the field of general relativity and gravitation.

Early Career Faculty Fellows are recognized for accomplishments as assistant professors and for their ability to broaden the technological profile of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Members are recognized for outstanding scholarship related to education and for providing service that advises policymakers and practitioners on pressing issues in education.

Election to National Academy of Engineering membership is one of the highest professional honors accorded an engineer. Members have distinguished themselves in business and academic management, in technical positions, as university faculty, and as leaders in government and private engineering organizations.

Fellows are selected to develop new methodologies and enhance understanding of the quantum world through interdisciplinary perspectives.

Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions to the chemical sciences.

Full membership recognizes individuals who have shown noteworthy achievement as original investigators in fields of pure or applied science.

The SoR Fellowship status recognizes a history of distinguished scientific achievement, a significant technological accomplishment, and/or outstanding scholarship in the field of Rheology.

The Michael Aiken Chair was established in honor of former University Chancellor Michael Aiken for his devotion to enhancing the quality of teaching, research, and service across campus. The Aiken Chair is supported by a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Campbell and other sources.

Gutgsell Endowed Professorships and Chairs were established by Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell to promote faculty development and to ensure high achievement. Gutgsell appointments have five-year renewable terms and provide funds for scholarly activities associated with individual fields of distinction.

Ikenberry Endowed Chairs were established in honor of Stanley O. Ikenberry’s tenure as the 14th President of the University of Illinois. Ikenberry Chairs are funded by a gift from Geraldine B. Cooke and other sources, and honor distinguished faculty members on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.

The Presidential Humanities and Social Science Chair appointments were established through an endowment from the University of Illinois President to support humanities and social science scholars whose research focuses on innovation and discovery.

Swanlund Endowed Chairs are made possible by a gift from the late Maybelle Leland Swanlund. Mrs. Swanlund, who died in 1993, provided an endowment of $12 million to attract leading figures in the arts and sciences to the University or to recognize outstanding scholars already on its faculty.