List of UNT Faculty Awards

The UNT Foundation Eminent Faculty Award

Recognizes a faculty member, who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, and service and has served as an inspiration to the UNT community. This award is one of the university’s highest faculty honors and is given by the UNT Foundation to one full-time faculty member.

The UNT Foundation Faculty Leadership Award

Recognizes a faculty member who significantly impacts the academic enterprise of the university through his/her leadership and service. The award recipient demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, is committed to the strategic mission of the university, and encourages others to support and work toward the public good through innovative initiatives.

The UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award

Recognizes UNT faculty whose careers are marked by sustained activities that systematically and effectively advance mutual university-community engagement, successfully address important community issues through collaborative initiatives, and create intellectual products respected by peers within and beyond the academy.

The UNT Foundation Outstanding Lecturer Award

Recognizes a faculty member, who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to scholarly-creative activity, teaching, and service and has served as an inspiration to the UNT community. This award is one of the university’s highest faculty honors and is given by the UNT Foundation to one full-time faculty member.

University Distinguished Research Professorship Award

Recognizes tenured faculty at the rank of professor who have achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities or research productivity and who demonstrate a record of continued extraordinary productivity.

University Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award

Recognizes tenured faculty at the rank of associate professor or professor who perform outstanding teaching, teach at the introductory levels of their disciplines and promote the continuous development of teaching excellence and improved teaching among their colleagues in the UNT community.

Regents Professor

Provides recognition for faculty at the rank of professor for those who have performed outstanding teaching, research and service to the profession, and who have achieved a high level of national and international recognition.

‘Fessor Graham Award

Named for the late Professor Floyd Graham, this award is presented to a faculty member for outstanding and unselfish service to students. The ‘Fessor Graham Award is the highest honor given by the student body. A student committee selects the ‘Fessor Graham recipient and an additional five Honor Professor award recipients.

J.H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award

Named for UNT alumnus Joe Houston Shelton, this award recognizes a full-time faculty member (including lecturers) for a record of outstanding teaching at UNT for at least a five-year period.

SGA Honor Professor Award

The Student Government Association presents faculty with their Honor Professor awards at the Honors Day ceremony each year. Departmental awards are reported to the association in order to make sure all faculty who are chosen are recognized with a plaque at the ceremony.

President’s Council Teaching Award

This award was established to recognize a full-time, tenured/ tenure-track faculty member for a record of teaching excellence at UNT for at least a five-year period. 

UNT Piper Professor Nominee

This award was established to recognize a full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty member for a record of teaching excellence at UNT for at least a five-year period. The award is funded by the President’s Council.

Exemplary Online Teacher and Course Award

A university-wide award that recognizes excellence in the design of instruction and facilitation of learning in a web-based environment.

Outstanding Online Teacher and Course Award

A university-wide award that recognizes faculty excellence in the design of instruction and facilitation of learning in a web-based environment.

U.S. Professors of the Year Awards Program

Celebrates outstanding instructors across the country. Sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, it is the only national program to recognize excellence in undergraduate education.

Research Leadership Award

Given to a full-time faculty member whose research excellence and leadership at UNT have made a substantial contribution to their respective discipline and achieved national and/or international recognition.

Creative Impact Award

Given to a full-time faculty member whose publications, performances, or exhibitions in the literary or creative arts have had the greatest societal impact.

Early Career Award for Research and Creativity

Given to a full-time faculty member within their first 10 years in a full-time appointment whose research accomplishments or creative endeavors have been outstanding and whose scholarly/creative products are considered to have had high impact in the faculty member's discipline and/or on society.

Toulouse Scholar Award

Designed to recognize the outstanding teaching and scholarly or creative achievements of UNT faculty members to honor the distinguished contributions of Robert B. Toulouse to the university. Faculty members also must have demonstrated exceptional achievement in teaching and/or scholarly and creative activities to enable them to further their contributions in one or both of these areas.

UNT Teacher-Scholar Award

Honors faculty members who demonstrate excellence in research or creative productivity while also excelling as a teacher.

Decker Scholar Award

Elmer Decker, a recipient of an honorary doctorate of science from UNT, established the Decker Scholar Award to recognize outstanding research in the natural sciences, computational sciences, or technology at UNT. The recipient holds the title Decker Scholar and receives the earnings from the endowment during a two-year award period given every other year.

Thank A Teacher Award

A way to say thanks to your exceptional teachers through the Thank-a-Teacher program.

Citation for Distinguished Service to International Education

Presented to any person within the university community who has performed or achieved an extraordinary record of outstanding, distinguished, meritorious and longstanding service to international education at UNT.

President's Council Service Award

Established to recognize a full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty member for a record of teaching excellence at UNT for at least a five-year period. 

Diversity Champion

Recognizes faculty or staff members who have gone above and beyond their normal job responsibilities to educate others on diversity and inclusion issues. 

Provost Award for Extraordinary Professional Service

This award is given to a committee(s) whose members are recognized with certificates of recognition as well as individual gift certificates.

Ulys & Vera Knight Faculty Mentor Award

Recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates sustained excellence in mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or other faculty members. Mentoring may include support and guidance in the areas of teaching, research, service, academic achievement and/or professional development. Faculty members may be recognized who have initiated or created departmental or university-wide mentoring programs.

UNT Special Recognition Award

Honors an extraordinary student, faculty or staff member (or group) who has contributed momentous, unique talent or service to the university and cultivated UNT pride. This award is given where no usual award or recognition is available due to unique quality of the contributions. The president selects the recipients and presents the awards as the occasion arises. This award will be presented at the Staff Appreciation Luncheon or Salute to Faculty Excellence Dinner or Honor’s Day program depending on the respective recipient.

Bob Rogers Service and Community Engagement Award

Given by the Office of the President to a faculty or staff member whose talent, dedication, passion and community service enhances both UNT and the greater community and helps them maintain strong bonds. The distinct and required characteristic of the recipient is a genuine attitude of selfless service, kindness and joy embodied by the late Bob Rogers.

UNT Innovator Award

Recognizes innovative leaders across campus. To earn the recognition, an awardee must demonstrate innovation, which generally requires both a creative development as well as the likelihood the work will make an impact in markets and communities. For academic researchers, this means they must show the ability to turn a solution into a commercial activity that benefits society at large. The annual UNT Innovator Awards celebrate faculty, staff and students who demonstrate the greatest innovations on campus each and have gone above and beyond in taking that innovation from concept in the lab into the marketplace.