2024 NOMINATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM APRIL 15 TO JULY 14, 2023
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The AAAS Mentor Awards
The two categories of the AAAS Mentor Awards (Lifetime Mentor Award and Mentor Award) both honor individuals who during their careers demonstrate extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering fields and careers. These groups include: women of all racial or ethnic groups; African American, Native American, and Hispanic men; and people with disabilities.
Both awards recognize an individual who has mentored and guided significant numbers of students from underrepresented groups to the completion of doctoral studies or who has impacted the climate of a department, college, or institution to significantly increase the diversity of students pursuing and completing doctoral studies. It is important to indicate in the nomination materials how the nominee’s work resulted in departmental and/or institutional change in terms of the granting of PhDs to underrepresented students. This can be documented not only with quantitative data, but may also be demonstrated through the student and colleague letters of support.
Such commitment and extraordinary effort may be demonstrated by:
- the number and diversity of students mentored;
- assisting students to present and publish their work, to find financial aid, and to provide career guidance;
- providing psychological support, encouragement, and essential strategies for life in the scholarly community;
- continued interest in the individual’s professional advancement.
Categories
Lifetime Mentor Award: A prize of $5,000 will be awarded. This individual will have served in the role of mentor for 25 or more years.
Mentor Award: A prize of $5,000 will be awarded. This individual will have served in the role of mentor for less than 25 years.
Both award category recipients receive: A monetary prize, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration, and reimbursement for reasonable travel and hotel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting.
Eligibility
The award is open to all individuals, regardless of nationality or citizenship, who have mentored students at a U.S. institution. Nominees must be living at the time of their nomination. Lifetime Mentor Awardees will have served in the role of mentor for 25 or more years. Mentor Awardees will have served in the role of mentor for less than 25 years. Each nominee will be rated based on the following criteria:
- Candidate mentored a significant number of students from underrepresented groups (i.e., women of all racial or ethnic groups; African American, Native American, and Hispanic men; and people with disabilities) who earned PhDs in a STEM field
- Candidate has shaped or impacted the climate of a department, college, or institution to significantly increase the diversity of students who earned STEM PhDs
- Candidate demonstrated continued interest in the educational and professional development of students mentored before and during the pursuit of the STEM PhD
- Candidate provided students with psychological support, encouragement, and essential strategies for life in the scholarly community before and during the pursuit of the STEM PhD
- Candidate has shaped or impacted the climate of a department, college, or institution to significantly increase the diversity of students who earned STEM PhDs
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is committed to equal opportunity for all persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other protected categories. AAAS seeks as diverse a pool of award nominations as possible, including as well a wide range of disciplines, institutional types, and geographical locations.
Nomination Procedures
- Nominations will be able to submit online. If you prefer to submit your nomination via postal mail, please contact iseed_awards@aaas.org. In addition to the web form, complete nomination packages will include:
- A Summary of Actions that form the basis for the nomination (about 250 words);
- A Letter of Nomination that enumerates the ways in which the person reflects the purpose of this award, including scholarship, activism, and community building;
- The candidate’s curriculum vitae (3-page maximum);
- A list of underrepresented students mentored with year PhD earned, institution and current employment. Please use the following templates:
- A maximum of five supporting letters from students and three supporting letters from colleagues representative of the different spheres in which the candidate has demonstrated effort, results, and commitment. Letters of nominations for candidates who are not direct doctoral mentors must indicate how the nominee mentored graduate students before and during the graduate school years.
- Nominations must be made in English.
- Please note: Nominees can be nominated up to three times. If you are nominating someone who has been nominated for either award in the past, please indicate so in your Letter of Nomination.
All materials become the property of AAAS.
2023 Mentor Award Recipient
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Ph.D, is the winner of the 2023 AAAS Mentor Award. He is recognized for his direct mentoring and for the impact of the national program he created. Between the two, Ramirez-Ruiz has reached more than half of the students from minoritized groups who have received a Ph.D. in astronomy in the last five years.
2023 Lifetime Mentor Award Recipient
Nagambal Shah, Ph.D, is the recipient of the 2023 AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award. Shah is professor emerita at Spelman College and has mentored a significant number of minority B.A. students who have gone on to receive Ph.D.s, especially considering that her institution does not grant graduate degrees. Beyond individual mentoring, she has launched and supported programs that have boosted the diversity of Ph.D. earners in her field of mathematics and statistics.
You can read lists of past recipients of the Mentor Award and the Lifetime Mentor Award.
Deadlines
All materials must be received by June 30, 2023.
Ethics Statement
All award winners are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics* and scientific integrity. Do you know of any concerns that AAAS should be aware of regarding the nominee satisfying this expectation?
*Breaches of professional ethics might include sexual misconduct, racial discrimination, or other ethical violations. Sexual harassment or retaliation for declining, objecting to, or reporting harassment or other sexual conduct may constitute a serious breach of professional ethics.
Diversity Statement
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is committed to equal opportunity for all persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other protected categories. AAAS seeks as diverse a pool of award nominations as possible from a wide range of disciplines, institutional types, and geographical locations. Nominations that will result in a candidate pool having an equitable representation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities are especially encouraged.
Each year, AAAS recognizes significant contributions to science and the public’s understanding of science. Learn more about these awards and nominate a scientist, engineer, author, journalist or public servant for their outstanding work.