Oliver Max Gardner Award

General Award Information

The Oliver Max Gardner Award was first presented in 1949 and recognizes a member of the UNC System faculty who, “during the current scholastic year has made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.” It is the highest honor the System confers on faculty. Each campus can submit a maximum of one nomination each year. Those chosen in the past have been persons who have made notable contributions of national or international scale, or persons whose contributions, although local, have served as models nationally or internationally.

Eligibility

Nominees for the O. Max Gardner Award should:

  • Hold full-time faculty rank, including instructors, and engage in teaching in any unit, institution, or branch of service of the Consolidated University of North Carolina.
  • Demonstrate impact that is aligned with the award’s recognition of a member of the UNC System faculty who, “during the current scholastic year has made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.”

Nomination Procedure and Timeline

  • Each code unit head may submit a nomination for the O. Max Gardner Award by March 15th (or the following Monday if the 15th falls on a weekend) for a faculty member to be considered for ECU’s nominee during the following fall. No unit should nominate more than one person. Each unit should develop its own procedures and timelines for college-level review.
  • Nominations should be submitted by each Dean via email to the Office for Faculty Excellence (ofe@ecu.edu) and consist of two components:
    1. Letter of support that describes in detail the nominee’s notable contributions to the welfare of the human race
    2. The nominee’s current CV
  • The Office for Faculty Excellence will compile nomination materials and schedule selection committee meeting by April 15th.
  • The nomination pool will undergo three levels of review:
    1. A selection committee comprised of the following: two designees by the Chancellor, two designees by the Provost, two designees by the Chair of the Faculty, and a designee from the Office for Faculty Excellence will review the full slate of nominees and recommend 1 – 3 faculty members for consideration by the Provost. Selection committee members should bring a diverse range of disciplines, expertise, and characteristics to the committee and shall serve for a term of one year.
    2. The Provost will review the finalists and provide a recommendation for a nominee to the Chancellor.
    3. The Chancellor will make the final determination for ECU’s candidate.
  • The Office for Faculty Excellence will keep the nominee list, and nominations will remain active for 3 years unless requested otherwise by the unit. If you have nominated anyone within the past 3 years, renomination is not required; however, additional or updated materials may be submitted with each nomination cycle.
  • The selected nominee will work with ECU Creative Services to develop a nomination dossier that includes: Dean and department head signatures; nomination letter from the Chancellor; application form provided by the UNC System Office, executive summary, highlights of the candidate’s recent accomplishments related to the award and associated contribution to the public welfare; current CV; maximum of 4 letters of support. [Note: Requirements for portfolio contents may need to be adjusted per annual guidance provided by the UNC System Office.]
  • The nominee’s completed portfolio is due to the Office for Faculty Excellence by 5:00 pm on September 30th to be submitted by the deadline provided by the UNC Office for the President to be considered for the system-wide award. [Note, this deadline may be adjusted if the system office adjusts to require an earlier timeline]