Description

Without the dedication of UI faculty and staff mentors, there would be no undergraduate research.  

The Distinguished Mentor Award recognizes the work that mentors put in to make their student's experiences successful. Students are invited to nominate their faculty research mentor as a huge "Thank you!" for the time and talent their mentors have given.

Each year, OUR recognizes three faculty/staff members who have been nominated by their student mentee(s). All faculty and staff who mentor students in research, scholarly, or creative work are eligible for nomination. Any nominated mentors will be notified, making nomination alone a token of gratitude from the student.

Beginning with the academic year 2026–2027, we will honor one distinguished mentor from each of the following three categories:

• Group 1: Arts, Humanities, Law, and Qualitative Social Sciences, broadly construed
• Group 2: Natural, Physical, Life, Engineering, Computational, and Mathematical Sciences and Quantitative Social Sciences, broadly construed
• Group 3: Health, Biomedical, and Clinical Sciences, broadly construed

Nomination Process

Nomination Process
Thinking about nominating your mentor?  

All faculty and staff who mentor students in research, scholarly, or creative work are eligible for nomination. Any nominated mentors will be notified, making nomination alone a token of gratitude from the student. This award is open to all discipline areas on campus.

If your mentor is selected as a DMA recipient they will also receive the following:

• An OUR Research Fellow of their choice for the upcoming summer or academic year. 
• A beautiful award to be displayed proudly at home or the office
• Recognition at the annual award ceremony hosted by the Office of the President, recognizing faculty and staff achievements

Late materials will not be accepted.

To submit an application, click on the "Apply" button and sign-in with your Hawk ID and password through the blue "University of Iowa Login" button.

Questions: Lauren Galliart (lauren-galliart@uiowa.edu)