Faculty Awards

We recognize that academic excellence is driven by dedicated faculty who instruct, research, create, mentor and serve our community of students and colleagues and the profession. To that end, FIU has a series of ongoing awards that recognize and celebrate the wide array of achievements of our faculty.

Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Initiative

This award in teaching excellence is a part of the Evaluating and Rewarding Teaching Initiative. The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Initiative awards are intended to recognize faculty who are working to create learning-centered, inclusive classroom experiences by using evidence/information from their own classrooms to inform instructional design and practice.

Top Scholar Awards

Top scholars are recognized in the areas of teaching, research and service. Nominations from deans, chairs and colleagues identify individual faculty who have excelled in the categories listed below. Top Scholars are selected by a committee of peers, the provost and the president. Top Scholars are honored in a reception hosted by the president and provost where faculty share their stories of achievement and the passion that drives their work.

Research and Creative Activities categories:

  • Award-winning publications
  • Award-winning creative work
  • Notable Academic Appointments
  • Awards/Honors
  • Junior Faculty with Significant Grants (Humanities and Sciences)
  • Senior Faculty with Significant Grants (Humanities and Sciences)

Teaching and Mentoring categories:

  • Dedicated Mentoring (undergraduate and/or graduate)
  • Junior Faculty with Notable Gains in Student Learning and Success (Humanities and Sciences)
  • Established Faculty with Notable Gains in Student Learning and Success (Humanities and Sciences)
  • Teaching Scholarship
  • Globally Engaged and/or Culturally Responsive Teaching
  • Engagement Beyond the Classroom

For more information visit, FIU Faculty Awards.

Faculty Convocation Awards

Select individuals are recognized with an award for significant achievements in their scholarly pursuits during the grand Faculty Convocation and Awards Ceremony, FIU's annual celebration of the collective accomplishments of our faculty.

Faculty are recognized for their excellence in award categories including Teaching, Gateway Teaching, Research & Creative Activities, Engagement, Service, Advising & Mentorship and Librarianship. Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching and President’s Council World’s Ahead Faculty awards are also conferred.

Book Authors

FIU acknowledges that the publishing of books by faculty is a major contribution to the body of academic scholarship. Since 2010, the provost has invited faculty to an informal recognition reception at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at the Modesto Maidique Campus where all submitted faculty publications are displayed in the Faculty Authors section.

Faculty Inventors

FIU celebrates faculty research and innovation. The Office of the Provost and the University Graduate School cohost an annual celebration in recognition of all the patent recipients. Through their work and connections, faculty inventors are promoting FIU and building our reputation among the highest levels of both the public and private sectors.

The Fain Fellow

The Fain Fellow award recognizes outstanding performance by our faculty in advancing the university's mission and encourages the continued development of exceptional initiatives. Awardees are named Fain Fellows and presented with The Fain Medal at the annual Faculty Convocation.

Learn more about the Fain Fellow

Distinguished University Professor

The rank of Distinguished University Professor is the highest recognition available to Full Professors of the University. These Professors are the leaders of FIU and set the example for research, scholarship, creative activities, teaching, and service excellence.

To qualify for the rank of Distinguished University Professor, the individual must have held the rank of full professor for five years and be recognized as a pioneering force in their specific area of research/scholarship/creative activities.