Honors Faculty Member of the Year Award

Each year a member of UConn’s Honors faculty is named the Honors Faculty Member of the Year by the Honors Program, in association with the Honors Council.

Award Purpose

This honor serves to recognize and thank a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the Honors Program. Nominees for this distinction have had meaningful impact on the quality of Honors instruction, provided exceptional advising to Honors students, and have significantly exceeded expectations through their support of the Honors Program. The award recipient will be formally recognized at the Honors Medals Ceremony held at the end of the academic year.

2023 Awardee

Jane Pryma, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology

Jane Pryma is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. Professor Pryma enjoys teaching social theory and topical courses on the sociology of gender and health, mental illness, and science, knowledge and technology. She especially appreciates the opportunity to work with Honors students as they pursue their own sociological research interests. Professor Pryma’s own research examines how national politics, medical technologies, and legal regulation affect the ways that individuals and institutions make sense of pain, illness, and disability. Her work has appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Science & Medicine and the Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy. Professor Pryma received her PhD and MA in Sociology from Northwestern University, and her BA from Kenyon College.

Past Recipients of the Honors Faculty Member of the Year Award

2022-2023: Dr. Jane Pryma (Sociology)
2021-2022: Dr. Alexia Smith (Anthropology)
2020-2021: Dr. Jason Courtmanche (English)
2019-2020: Dr. Judy Brown (Allied Health Sciences and Nursing)
2018-2019: Dr. Jennifer Sterling-Folker (Political Science)
2017-2018: Dr. Brian Aneskievich (Pharmaceutical Sciences) & Dr. Kimberly Bergendahl (Political Science)
2016-2017: Dr. Blair T. Johnson (Psychological Sciences)
2015-2016: Dr. Alaina Brenick (Human Development and Family Studies)
2014-2015: Dr. Mark Boyer (Political Science)
2013-2014: Dr. Patrick Dragon (Mathematics)
2013-2014: Dr. Annamaria Csizmadia (Human Development and Family Studies)
2012-2013: Dr. Patricia J. Neafsey (Nursing)
2012-2013: Ms. Rebecca Flanagan (Pre-Law)
2011-2012: Dr. Virginia Hettinger (Political Science)
2010-2011: Dr. William F. Bailey (Chemistry)
2009-2010: Dr. Lawrence Gramling (Accounting)
2009-2010: Dr. Robert Thorson (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology)
2008-2009: Dr. Robert Gross (James L. and Shirley A. Draper Professor of Early American History)
2007-2008: Dr. Steven Wisensale (Human Development and Family Studies)
2006-2007: Mr. Louis Lombardi (Actuarial Science)
2005-2006: Dr. Lawrence Hightower (Molecular and Cell Biology)
2004-2005: Dr. Robin Chazdon (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)
2003-2004: Dr. Harry A. Frank (Chemistry)

Requirements for Nominations & Nomination Process

Requirements for Nominations

  • The nominee must be a full-time faculty member at the University of Connecticut.*
  • The nominee must exhibit excellence in working with Honors students in a teaching capacity.
  • The nominee must have taught an Honors undergraduate course or conversion in which the nominator was a student or served as an Honors advisor or thesis advisor to the nominator.
  • The selected awardee will participate in-person at the Honors Medals Ceremony to be held in April.
  • Only a current Honors student may submit a nomination for this award.

*Teaching assistants and graduate assistants are not eligible for this award

    Nomination Process

    • Nominations for the 2023-2024 Honors Faculty Member of the Year Award have closed. Please check back for information about nominations for the next year during the Spring 2025 semester. Thank you.

    Selection Process

    • Nominations are reviewed by the selection committee, comprised of members of Honors Program faculty and students from the Honors Council.
    • Nominees will be notified of their nomination in late March/early April.
    • The Honors Program will contact each nominee for confirmation of availability to attend the Honors Medals Ceremony.
    • Available nominees shall submit a current curriculum vitae and description of their involvement with the Honors Program.
    • Eligible nominees will continue in the process for consideration by the award committee.
    • More than one nominee may receive the award in a given year.

    Awardee Expectations

    • The awardee will submit a biography and photograph (high resolution/black & white) of themself for use by the University. The biography and image will be included in the event program and utilized in Honors Program communications, including this website.
    • The awardee agrees to attend the Honors Medals Ceremony. They are encouraged to invite faculty, family, and friends. They will wear regalia and accept their medal on stage.
    • The awardee will be asked to give a “Last Lecture” presentation to the Honors community in the following academic year.

    For More Information

    Please email honors@uconn.edu to request additional information.