Faculty Awards

A reception will not be held this year. The award winners will be notified via email and posted on the BCMB webpage. To be considered for an award, applications are due by 5 PM on Monday, April 5, 2021 to Chrissy Wills-Maples via email to (rwills@utk.edu). For these, please submit a single PDF file named as follows: LASTNAME_AWARD_2021.

Charles P. Postelle Distinguished Professorship – First year $30,000.

Charles P. Postelle Distinguished Professorship will be awarded to a Tenured Full Professor in the BCMB Department who has demonstrated an exceptional level of scholarly achievement, this professorship is “to encourage research and teaching in biotechnology”. This professorship is awarded for a three-year period and can be renewed. This professorship carries the title “Charles P. Postelle Distinguished Professor.”

To apply: You must be a Full Professor and have been a member of the BCMB faculty for at least five years to eligible. Eligible professors can apply or be nominated by others.  A committee of faculty from outside the department will review the applications and decide the award recipient. Nomination materials include:

1. A letter of nomination explaining how the candidate has fulfilled the eligibility requirements.
2. An updated CV and a plan from the candidate regarding the research that will be pursued during the term.

Recipients

2018	Dan Roberts
2015	Liz Howell
2012	Bruce McKee

Dr. Donald L. Akers, Jr. Faculty Enrichment Fellowship ($12,000)

Dr. Donald L. Akers Jr. Faculty Award this award is to be given to outstanding faculty for research efforts. The fund will be used this year to support faculty research. This award is available to any of the tenure-line faculty in the BCMB Department. High priority will be given to requests to fund pilot projects for generating preliminary data used to compete for extramural research funding.  A committee of faculty from outside the department will review the applications and decide the award recipient. The application should include:

1. A short (3 page) description of the research project, including a time line for accomplishing the research goals
2. A proposed budget and description of personnel for the project (0.5 page)
3. A statement of plans for submitting applications for external funds related to the proposal (0.5 page)
4. An abbreviated CV that is limited to:
   1. External Funding (Active and Pending)
   2. Internal UTK Funding (Active and Pending)
   3. publications (last 5 years)
   4. presentations at conferences, universities, research institutes, etc. (last 5 years)
   5. honors and awards (last 5 years)

Recipients

2020	Elena Shpak
2019	Bruce McKee
2018	Albrecht Von Arnim
2017	Barry Bruce
2016	Brad Binder
2015	Mariano Labrador
2014	Elias Fernandez
2013	Engin Serpersu
2012	Rebecca Prosser

Hunsicker Research Incentive Award ($5,000) two (2) awards

The funds donated to BCMB by Pat Hunsicker, a long time researcher in the mammalian genetics group at ORNL, have been used to establish the Hunsicker Research Incentive Awards. These are available to any of the tenure-line faculty or postdoctoral fellows in the BCMB Department. High priority will be given to requests to fund pilot projects for generating preliminary data used to compete for extramural research funding. A committee of faculty from outside the department will review the applications and decide the award recipient.

The application should include:

1. A short (3 page) description of the research project, including a time line for accomplishing the research goals
2. A proposed budget and description of personnel for the project (0.5 page)
3. A statement of plans for submitting applications for external funds related to the proposal (0.5 page)
4. An abbreviated CV that is limited to: a. External Funding (Active and Pending); b. Internal UT Funding (Active and Pending); c. publications (last 5 years); d. presentations at conferences, universities, research institutes, etc. (last 5 years); e. honors and awards (last 5 years)

A committee of faculty from outside the department will review the applications and decide the award recipient.

Recipients

2020	Ansul Lokdarshi  &   Jae Park
2019	Andreas Nebenführ
2018	Fran Barrera  &  Mike Duff
2017	Nitin Jain  &  Rebecca Prosser
2016	Elias Fernandez  &  Jae Park
2015	Gladys Alexandre  &  Elena Shpak
2014	Jae Park  &  Engin Serpersu
2013	Dan Roberts
2012	Elias Fernandez  &  Andreas Nebenführ
2011	Dan Roberts, Ranjan Ganguly & Kryzsztof Bobik
2010	Brad Binder, Jae Park & Engin Serpersu

Junior and Senior Faculty Distinguished Research Award ($1,000 each)

The Distinguished Scholarship Award recognizes a BCMB faculty member who has made notable achievements in scholarship and research within the past academic year. Faculty members in the BCMB department are invited to nominate their colleagues for this award. Materials required include:

1. A letter of nomination that gives details regarding the research and publication record of the nominee.
2. A current CV from the nominee.

Recipients

	Junior Faculty	Senior Faculty
2020	Maitreyi Das	Barry Bruce
2019	Tessa Burch-Smith	Barry Bruce
2018	Tessa Burch-Smith	Brad Binder
2017	Maitreyi Das	Jerome Baudry
2016	Francisco Barrera	Gladys Alexandre
2015	Joshua Bembenek	Dan Roberts
2013	Elena Shpak	Barry Bruce
2012	Jerome Baudry	Engin Serpersu
2011	Brad Binder	Albrecht von Arnim
2010	Mariano Labrador	Bruce McKee
2009	Elena Shpak	Elizabeth Howell

Junior and Senior Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award ($1,000 each)

The Outstanding Teaching Award recognizes a BCMB faculty member who demonstrates a commitment and excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level. Faculty members in the BCMB department are invited to nominate their colleagues for this award.  Materials required include:

1. A letter of nomination that gives details of teaching approaches and effectiveness.
2. Student evaluation surveys for each course from the past three (junior) or five (senior) years also should be submitted.
3. Written comments from undergraduate students regarding the teaching effectiveness of the faculty member are desirable, but not required.

Recipients

	Junior Faculty	Senior Faculty
2020	Rachel P. McCord	Dan Roberts
2019	Tessa Burch-Smith	Nitin Jain
2018	Maitreyi Das	Brad Binder
2017	Maitreyi Das	Jim Hall
2016	Francisco Barrera	Barry Bruce
2015	Tessa Burch-Smith	Ranjan Ganguly
2014		Nitin Jain
2012		Jim Hall
2011	Jerome Baudry	Andreas Nebenführ
2010	Rose Goodchild	Gladys Alexandre
2009	Ana Kitazono	John Koontz