Faculty Recognition | Office of Research and Innovation

Vice President Gage placing medal around a female faculty member

Honoring Excellence

Michigan State University conducts world-class research and creative activity, ranking as one of the top global research universities in the world. MSU research excellence has been recognized through institutional membership in the American Association of Universities (AAU) since 1964.

The university attracts and welcomes an international community of outstanding graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and faculty visitors to a broad range of highly ranked graduate programs, research centers, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

National and international faculty awards are an important component of institutional reputation. Each year, Michigan State University faculty members earn a variety of honors for their scholarly contributions. Some receive prizes and awards from learned societies or government agencies for specific work or career contributions.

Please review the curated lists of prestigious awards earned by your colleagues and consider those for which you might nominate others using the award application information.

Announcements

Litchman Lands Prestigious Award for Scientific Excellence in Aquatic Ecology

Mar 4, 2021

Elena Litchman, professor of aquatic ecology at Michigan State University, is the recipient of the 2021 G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO).

Montgomery Selected as Science Defender by Union of Concerned Scientists

Mar 1, 2021

Michigan State University’s Beronda Montgomery, an MSU Foundation Professor, was one of five individuals nominated by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) as a 2020 Science Defender.

MSU Faculty Member and Alum Win National Foreign Language Education Award

The highest national research award for foreign language education recently was awarded to the team of Xiaowan Zhang, MSU Ph.D. alumna in Second Language Studies; Paula Winke, Professor in MSU’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures; and Shaunna Clark, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, for their research paper, “Background Characteristics and Oral Proficiency Development Over Time in Lower-Division College Foreign Language Programs.”

NSF CAREER Award: Making Solar Energy Even Greener

Spartan engineer, Annick Anctil, is analyzing how we make, implement and dispose of solar cells to make sure consumers end up with the most sustainable product.

Nwando Achebe Named an American Council on Education Fellow

Following a rigorous review process, Nwando Achebe, the Jack and Margaret Sweet Endowed Professor of History, and associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Social Science at Michigan State University, has been named one of 46 American Council on Education Fellows for academic year 2022-23.

Howe Selected as Fulbright US Scholar

Gregg Howe, an MSU College of Natural Science researcher who is internationally known for his work on plant resilience and how plants respond to insect attacks, will be heading to Japan as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2022-2023 academic year to apply cutting-edge genetic technologies to the development of crop plants that will contribute to sustainable agriculture and food security.