WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor's

Distinguished Research Excellence Award

The Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence is given annually to a WSU Tri-Cities faculty member whose research, scholarship or creative work is exemplary, and whose work has had a positive influence on the broader community. It is the campus’s highest research honor.

learning communities
undergraduate research
service learning
diversity equity and inclusion

Objective

Selection Criteria for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities: 

  1. Number and type of peer-reviewed publications, reviewed exhibitions, performances or media productions appropriate to the nominee’s discipline, with weight given to prestigious venues.  
  2. Amount of external funds obtained for research, and sources of the funds. 
  3. Evidence of impact on the field, discipline, interdisciplinary scholarship, or society by the nominee. [Evidence might include number of citations and norms for the field or discipline; memberships on editorial boards, review panels or juries; keynote addresses; other awards; supportive data from established alternative metrics (e.g., number of downloads of open-access publications and other products); impact on practice; significant professional collaborations; success of student collaborators; unfunded projects that had impacts on the field.] 
  4. Evidence of impact on the campus and/or academic unit mission and strategic plan. 
  5. Evidence of impact on the community. 
  6. Level of excellence, productivity and impact given the developmental stage of the nominee.   
  7. Extent of collaborative involvement in the nominee’s research by students. 

Eligibility

  • All tenure-track, tenured and career-track faculty who have been employed by WSU Tri-Cities for at least three years are eligible. The award is based on outstanding research and/or creative work over the past 3-5 years of service at WSU Tri-Cities. 

Nominations

  • Any member of the WSU Tri-Cities community may nominate a faculty member. 
  • Nominations will be submitted to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Programs.
  • Each nomination must consist of: 
    • a letter of nomination, no longer than 1 page, single-spaced, prepared by the individual proposing the nomination, 
    • a modified CV prepared by the nominee covering the past 3-5 years that summarizes research and/or creative accomplishments, and 
    • a context statement, no longer than 3 pages, single-spaced, prepared by the nominator and nominee, that contextualizes the nominee’s achievements related to the criteria listed under “OBJECTIVES” above

Timeline

  • The nomination process will open January 31, 2025
  • Completed nomination packets must be received by March 14, 2025
  • The recipient will be announced on April 16, 2025.

Committee

Committee members will change each year and include former recipients of the award, when possible.

Nominations are Open

All tenure-track, tenured and career-track faculty who have been employed by WSU Tri-Cities for at least three years are eligible. The award is based on outstanding research and/or creative work over the past 3-5 years of service at WSU Tri-Cities.

  • Previous Winners

    • 2023 | Bob Harrington | Professor and Ivar B. Hagland Endowed Chair, Director, School of Hospitality Business Management
    • 2022 | Robert ‘Bob’ Bauman | Professor of History and Academic Director of Arts and Sciences
    • 2021 | Birgitte Ahring | Professor of Biological Systems and Chemical Engineering, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture WSU Tri-Cities