Almost every day, I interact with members of the AU community—students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, neighbors, and friends. I continue to be amazed by this community’s achievements, hard work, and dedication to making AU a great place to study, work, and live.

Each year at this time, we launch the University Awards process. These awards recognize graduating students, faculty, staff, and alumni whose achievements in the past year exemplify our legacy of leadership, scholarship, and service and our work to create meaningful change. If you know someone who deserves this special recognition, I invite you to nominate them.  

Nominations are due:

• February 18 for faculty awards
• March 1 for staff awards
• March 25 for student awards
• April 15 for alumni awards

We’ll honor the awardees during the following events:

• Faculty Recognition Dinner, in late April
• Commencement Weekend, in early May, for graduating students
• Staff Appreciation events, in early June
• Alumni Recognition, during All-American Weekend in October

In reviewing the awards site, you will notice two changes:

• A new award, The Faculty Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• The Inclusive Excellence Staff Award, which was previously, the Diversity Award for Staff

Both of these awards link closely to our Inclusive Excellence plan and are closely tied to our commitment to building a community where people feel a sense of belonging, because we can only achieve excellence through inclusion.

You can read more about all of the awards, selection criteria, deadlines, and submission process details on the University Awards website.

As I’ve said before, each member of our community is vital to our mission. I am thankful for your contribution and I hope you will help us identify and acknowledge those members of our community whose commitment is exemplary.