Awards & Recognitions

In recognition of exemplary contributions through research on service-learning and community engagement, IARSLCE honors those whose research contributes significantly to understanding and advancing community engagement, across all approaches and all educational sectors. We are currently accepting nominations for our 2024 Awards. Click on the links below for more information on the nomination process and eligibility for each award. The deadline to submit a nomination has been extended to April 28, 2024.

The Distinguished Career Award acknowledges and celebrates intellectual leadership through a body of work that has broad and deep impact on the study and/or practice of service-learning and community engagement, including the communities, cultures, and systems within which it is undertaken.

The Early Career Award acknowledges and celebrates intellectual leadership through an emerging body of work that has begun to demonstrate broad and deep impact on the study and/or practice of service-learning and community engagement, including the communities, cultures, and systems within which it is undertaken.

The Dissertation Award acknowledges and celebrates a dissertation that advances research on service-learning and community engagement through rigorous and innovative inquiry and has the potential for impact on the study and/or practice of service-learning and community engagement, including the communities, cultures, and systems within which it is undertaken.

The Publication of the Year Award acknowledges and celebrates the author(s) of a single published scholarly article, book chapter, book, or book series that has had a significant impact on the study and/or practice of service-learning and community engagement, including the communities, cultures, and systems within which it is undertaken.

The International Research Award recognizes excellence in research and scholarship that advances the study and practice of service-learning and community engagement within and/or across borders and cultures, expanding knowledge on cultural, regional, and national practices in service-learning and community engagement theory and practice, especially work that centers or engages in non-US contexts.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award recognizes excellence in research and scholarship that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion in the study and practice of service-learning and community engagement (SLCE). The purpose of the award is to recognize research that focuses specifically on a) the needs and experiences of diverse stakeholders in SLCE; b) practices that promote equity for marginalized or underserved communities; and c) strategies that make SLCE projects - and the field as a whole - more inclusive of diverse communities and perspectives.

The Community Outcomes and Impact Award recognizes excellence in service-learning and community engaged research that advances community outcomes and impacts. While all SLCE scholarship should contribute to community-based stakeholders, this award recognizes research that has had a significant impact on an organization or program, and/or measurably benefited a community.

The Public Scholarship Award recognizes excellent interdisciplinary research that has a demonstrable ameliorative impact on pressing public issues with a special focus on the knowledge needs of policymakers and practitioners. This award recognizes research that generates non-traditional scholarly products, presented in a manner that is widely accessible to targeted audiences and/or the general public. Such work might include policy briefs, program evaluations, white papers, reports, translations of scientific or other scholarly findings, site revitalization plans, concept maps, videos, or other creative products designed to respond to and inform broader publics.

Learn more about the 2023 IARSLCE Award Recipients here.

Previous Award Recipients

  • 2003: Andrew Furco, University of California at Berkeley

    2004: Robert Bringle, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

    2005: Sherril Gelmon, Portland State University

    2006: Barbara Holland, National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

    2007: Janet Eyler, Vanderbilt University

    2008: Shelley Billig, RMC Research Corporation

    2009: Dwight Giles, Jr., University of Massachusetts Boston

    2010: Barbara Moely, Tulane University

    2011: Jeffrey Howard, Depaul University

    2012: Rahima Wade, University of Iowa (posthumous)

    2013: Lorilee Sandmann, University of Georgia

    2014: Sarena Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health

    2015: Edward Zlotkowski, Bentley University

    2016: Barbara Jacoby, University of Maryland, College Park

    2017: Julie Hatcher, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

    2018: Patti H. Clayton

    2019: Nadine Peterson, University of Johannesburg

    2020: Nadinne Cruz

    2021: Dr. Jean Strait

    2022: Dr. John Saltmarsh

    2023: Professor Maria Nieves Tapia

  • 2008: KerryAnn O’Meara, University of Maryland College Park

    2009: Nicholas Long, Providence College

    2010: Timothy Eatman, Syracuse University

    2011: Tania Smith, Stanford University

    2012: Emily Janke, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

    2013: Eric Hartman, Providence College

    2016: Stephanie Stokamer, Pacific University

    2017: Amy Cook, University of Massachusetts Boston

    2018: Danielle Lake, Grand Valley State University and Timothy Shaffer, Kansas State University (co-recipients)

    2021: Dr. Clare Cannon, University of California at Davis

    2022: Dr. Samantha Francois, Tulane University

  • 2008: Julie Hatcher, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis and Emily Janke, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (co-recipients)

    2009: Alan Bloomgarden, University of Massachusetts Amherst

    2010: Katrina Norvell, Portland State University and Elaine Ward, Dublin Institute of Technology (co-recipients)

    2011: Stephanie T. Stokamer, Portland State University

    2012: Lina Dostilio, Duquesne University

    2013: Travis York, The Pennsylvania State University

    2014: Kendra Brewster, City University of New York

    2015: Cynthia Toms, Westmont College

    2016: Nora Pillard Reynolds, Temple University

    2017: Kristi Farner, University of Georgia

    2018: Elisabeth Fornaro, Temple University

    2019: Thomas Dahan, Rutgers University, Camden

    2020: Dr. Colleen Rost-Banik, University of Minnesota

    2021: Dr. Melissa Quan, University of Massachusetts Boston

    2022: “Hilos del mismo tejido”: Weaving community perspectives into community-based global learning through critical micro-ethnographic testimonio by Dr. Macario (Mac) Benavides

    2023: Academic Community-Engaged Learning and Student Mental Health and Wellness: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Undergraduate Students by Dr. Stephanie Brewer

  • 2020: Dr. Elizabeth Yomantas of Pepperdine University for her chapter “Decolonizing Knowledge and Fostering Critical Allyship,” which appears in the book Teaching and Learning for Social Justice and Equity in Higher Education (Parson & Ozaki, 2020)

    2021: Dr. Rachael Shah, Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, for her book Rewriting Partnerships: Community Perspectives of Community-Based Learning (Utah State University Press)

    2022: The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning special issue, “Centering Social Justice in the Scholarship of Community Engagement”

    2023: The Pedagogy of Action: Small Axe Fall Big Tree edited by Dr. Nesha Haniff

  • 2020: Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Service-Learning and Leadership Office

  • 2019: Tania Mitchell, University of Minnesota

    2020: Professor Darren E. Lund (University of Calgary)International Award Recipient

    2021: Dr. Éilish Burke, Ussher Assistant Professor in Ageing and Intellectual Disability at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, and Associate Director of the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability

    2022: ENDAVANT (ENfocament de la Diversitat com un AVANTatge —approach to diversity as an advantage in English)

    2023: Anti-Racist Community Engagement Research Group (Christina Santana, Roopika Risam, Aldo Garcia-Guevara, Joseph Krupczynski, Cynthia Lynch, John Reiff, Cindy Vincent, and Elaine Ward)

  • 2019: Montagnard Dega Association / Montagnard American Association

    2020: Professor Tom Dee (Stanford University), Professor Emily Penner (University of California Irvine), and Assistant Superintendent Bill Sanderson (San Francisco Unified School District)

    2021: Dr. Katherine Kim, Adjunct Associate Professor at UC Davis School of Medicine and Principal at Health Science and Consumer Health Informatics at MITRE

    2022: Dr. Liza Grandia, Associate Professor in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of California Davis

  • 2019: Dotte Agency, University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design

    2021: Dr. Marianne LeGreco, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro

    2022: Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, Professor of Human Rights Studies, and the founding director of the Human Rights Studies program at University of California Davis