Committee Chair: Susan Twombly, Professor Emerita, University of Kansas, stwombly@ku.edu
Committee Members:
Anna Ortiz, California State University, Long Beach
Frankie Santos Laanan, University of Utah
Jerlando Jackson, Michigan State University
Call for Award Nominations – AERA Division J 2026 Exemplary Research Award
This award is a special honor our division bestows on one of our most esteemed colleagues. The primary purpose of the award is to recognize and reward an individual who demonstrates an outstanding record of scholarly research in our field. While not intended as a “retirement award”, the focus is on experienced faculty, both associate and full professors, who demonstrate an unusually high level of accomplishment. They are recognized scholars whose published research has made an outstanding contribution to knowledge and understanding in the field of postsecondary education.
Letters of nomination should provide a detailed description and explanation of the nature and quality of the contribution, the nominee’s current CV, as well as electronic copies of two noteworthy publications that typify the impact the nominated scholar has made both in terms of contribution to the literature and its impact on the field and practice. Each nomination packet should contain one letter of nomination; that letter may be written and signed by more than one person.
Nominations received by December 1, 2025, 11:59pm CT will be considered. Please address questions and send nominations to Susan Twombly, Awards Committee Chair, at stwombly@ku.edu. The Division J Awards Committee is always considering new members. For more information, please contact Susan Twombly (stwombly@ku.edu).
The Division will only bestow this award when a nominee reflects the exemplary level of accomplishment the award is intended to recognize; as such, an award may not be given every year.
Previous award winners:
2025: Kristen A. Renn, Michigan State University
2024: Adrianna Kezar, University of Southern California
2023: Shaun Harper, University of Southern California
2022: Laura W. Perna, University of Pennsylvania
2021: Patricia M. McDonough, University of California-Los Angeles
2020: Patricia M. King, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2019: John S. Levin, University of California, Riverside
2018: Estela Bensimon, University of Southern California
2015: Sylvia Hurtado, University of California, Los Angeles
2014: Ann Austin, Michigan State University
2013: Daryl G. Smith, Claremont Graduate University
2012: Tom Bailey, Teachers College
2011: William Tierney, University of Southern California
2010: Anna Neumann, Teachers College
2009: Barbara K. Townsend, University of Missouri
2008: George Kuh, Indiana University and Jack Schuster, Claremont Graduate University
2007: John Thelin, Professor, University of Kentucky
2006: Patricia Gumport, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Professor, Stanford University
2004: James Fairweather, Professor, Michigan State University