2023 Provost Award Recipients

Provost's Awards Information


Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service Award

Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service Awards recognize meritorious and outstanding achievement over a five-year period by full-time members of the academic faculty and administrative professional staff. The award program was established as a tribute to Professor Pennock, who served as a distinguished professor of Civil Engineering in the 1920s.

Board of Governors Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award

The Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching is presented annually to a faculty member who stimulates the curiosity of students by motivating and challenging them. The award is sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System.

Jack E. Cermak Advising Award

The Jack E. Cermak Advising Award recognizes excellence in academic advising. Jack E. Cermak was a Professor in Civil Engineering who endowed this award because of his strong belief in the value of academic advising.

Monfort Professor

The Monfort Family Foundation established the Monfort Professors Program to support early career faculty at CSU with unrestricted support for advancing their research, teaching, and career. Each year, a faculty member is selected as a Monfort Professor by a committee appointed by the Provost. They retain this designation for two years and receive $100,000 in research support.

Provost’s Awards for Faculty Excellence

The Provost and Council of Chairs are pleased to invite nominations for a series of annual awards to recognize the impact of research and teaching by early- to mid-career CSU faculty especially deserving of special acknowledgment.

Kevin Ann Oltjenbruns Award for Outstanding Leadership

This award serves to highlight and reward the extraordinary efforts of truly outstanding CSU faculty and staff who through their leadership and mentoring/advising go above and beyond the standard expectations for employees with similar responsibilities.

N. Preston Davis Award for Instructional Innovation

This award recognition was instituted in 1992 upon the retirement of N. Preston Davis. Davis served the Colorado State University community creatively and loyally for over four decades. His contributions were many and focused on instructional innovation.

Exceptional Achievement in Service Learning Awards

Community Engagement Scholarship Awards

University Distinguished Professors (UDP)

The highest academic recognition awarded by the University, the title of University Distinguished Professor is bestowed upon a small number of full professors at any one time on the basis of outstanding scholarship and achievement. Professors receiving this title hold the distinction for the duration of their association with Colorado State University.

The purposes of the University Distinguished Professorships are 1) to confer honor upon faculty members for outstanding scholarship and 2) to symbolize the continuing commitment of Colorado State University to the pursuit of excellence. Because University Distinguished Professors are a select group, nominations are not sought every year.

University Distinguished Teaching Scholars (UDTS)

Those faculty members appointed as University Distinguished Teaching Scholars have records of performance ranking them among the most outstanding teachers and educators in their disciplines, as reflected by their accomplishments as both scholars and teachers, lending talents and expertise to teaching-related projects and scholarship at Colorado State. Distinguished Teaching Scholars have received national and international acclaim in recognition of outstanding achievement. Because University Distinguished Teaching Scholars are a select group, nominations are not sought every year.


*The call for nominations for 2024 awards will be shared with the campus community in November 2023. Every year, the deadline for nominations is Feb. 1.