Distinguished Awards

• Name

• Tribal affiliation (if any)

• Title institution

• Engagement with Students and / or Professionals from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM: Describe how the Nominee has successfully engaged with students and/ or professionals from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. Include specific examples for each of the Mentor Categories you selected above for which you want the Nominee to be considered. You may reference students and/or STEM professionals that have been mentored by the Nominee.

• Educational / Community Outreach: If you would like this Nominee to be considered for Distinguished Mentor Award, please include information about how this Nominee has engaged in at least 10 years of educational and/or community outreach.

• Highlight any SACNAS service history of the nominee

• CV or Biosketch of nominated individual (5 pages max)

• Letters of recommendation (2 letters minimum):

  • At least one letter from a professional colleague or supervisor of the Nominee.

  • At least one letter from a student mentee of the Nominee.

  • The letters should address the following two essay prompts:

    • For each mentor category you would like the Nominee to be considered, describe why the nominee deserves to be recognized. Consider highlighting the Nominee’s reputation in mentoring. You may reference articles and previous awards featuring the Nominee’s mentoring track record.

    • Describe how the Nominee has successfully engaged with students and/or professionals from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. You must include specific examples for each of the Mentor Categories which you want the Nominee to be considered. You must reference students and/or STEM professionals that have been mentored by the Nominee (Required).

• Name

• Tribal affiliation (if any)

• Title institution

• Describe why the Nominee deserves to be recognized as the SACNAS Distinguished Scientist. Consider highlighting the Nominee’s national reputation in STEM. You may reference publications, grants, and other awards secured by the Nominee.

• Describe the Nominee’s research and their notable contributions to STEM. You may reference research publications and articles featuring the Nominee’s research, and/or securing large competitive grants.

• Describe how the Nominee has successfully engaged with students and/or professionals from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. You may reference students and/or STEM professionals that have been trained by the Nominee, collaborated with the Nominee, or have been listed as co-authors in publications by the Nominee.

• CV or Biosketch of nominated individual (5 pages max)

• Letters of recommendation (2 letters minimum):

  • At least one letter from a professional colleague or supervisor of the Nominee.

  • At least one letter from a student mentee of the Nominee.

  • The letters should address the following:

    • Describe why the Nominee deserves to be recognized as the SACNAS Distinguished Scientist. Consider highlighting the Nominee's national reputation in STEM. You may reference publications, grants and other awards secured by the Nominee.

    • Describe the Nominee's research and their notable contributions to STEM. You may reference research publications and articles featuring the Nominee's research.

    • Describe how the Nominee has successfully engaged with students and/or professionals from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. You may reference students and/or STEM professionals that have been trained by the Nominee, collaborated with the Nominee, or have been listed as co-authors in publications by the Nominee.

    • Highlight any SACNAS service history of the nominee

• Supporting materials related to the Nominee’s research. Supplemental materials are not required but will be given weight in deliberations.

  • Examples include (5 pages max.):

    • Research interests and honors, accolades, or awards

    • Articles written about the individual

You can find all past awardees here: https://www.sacnas.org/honor-excellence/archive

It’s ok to reach out to the nominee and let them know you would like to nominate them! Ask for their CV and list of mentees you can reach out to, as well as any other pertinent information to help write your letter. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time before the deadline to get this information!

Avoid repeating the same information over and over again. Each letter should be crafted to address the nominee from different perspectives. As the submitter, make sure to coordinate what you want each recommendation letter to address. Typically, mentee letters share how the mentor helped shape their career (can be a group letter) while the supervisor letter shares how the nominee has demonstrated a long track record of success.

Format your letter so that the reviewer can easily see the main points. Consider making important statements in bold, italics or underline so that it can stand out and catch the eye of the reviewer!