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:
- A letter of nomination explaining how the candidate has fulfilled the eligibility requirements.
- An updated CV and a plan from the candidate regarding the research that will be pursued during the term.
Recipients
| 2021 | Barry Bruce |
| 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:
- A short (3 page) description of the research project, including a time line for accomplishing the research goals
- A proposed budget and description of personnel for the project (0.5 page)
- A statement of plans for submitting applications for external funds related to the proposal (0.5 page)
- An abbreviated CV that is limited to:
- External Funding (Active and Pending)
- Internal UTK Funding (Active and Pending)
- publications (last 5 years)
- presentations at conferences, universities, research institutes, etc. (last 5 years)
- honors and awards (last 5 years)
Recipients
| 2021 | Gladys Alexandre |
| 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:
- A short (3 page) description of the research project, including a time line for accomplishing the research goals
- A proposed budget and description of personnel for the project (0.5 page)
- A statement of plans for submitting applications for external funds related to the proposal (0.5 page)
- 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
| 2021 | Rebecca Prosser & Brad Binder |
| 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:
- A letter of nomination that gives details regarding the research and publication record of the nominee.
- A current CV from the nominee.
Recipients
| Junior Faculty | Senior Faculty | |
| 2021 | Tian Hong | Eleana Shpak |
| 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:
- A letter of nomination that gives details of teaching approaches and effectiveness.
- Student evaluation surveys for each course from the past three (junior) or five (senior) years also should be submitted.
- Written comments from undergraduate students regarding the teaching effectiveness of the faculty member are desirable, but not required.
Recipients
| Junior Faculty | Senior Faculty | |
| 2021 | Daiane Alves | Jim Hall |
| 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 |