Each year, a select group of faculty and staff members are awarded the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards Gold Medal for their significant support of students applying for national and international scholarship and program opportunities. 

One department is also chosen for its collective contribution to student research and competitive efforts. For the first time, the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards also recognized a Community Partner Gold Medal. 

Faculty, staff and departments can only receive the gold medal once. A full list of past Gold Medal Award recipients is available on the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards web page. 

“The university community takes pride in its talented students and dedicated faculty members who have worked together to achieve remarkable success,” said Terry Martin, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “This last year alone, our students received almost $2 million in nationally competitive awards. They have received recognition and, in many cases, substantial funding from foundations like Rhodes, Schwarzman, NSF, Fulbright, Goldwater, Truman, Udall and more. It is a remarkable record. One we look forward to continuing in the years to come.”

“As the new cycle of award competitions begin, we want to thank all those who supported competitive candidates last year, and we want to continue to engage faculty and staff across the campus in the process of identifying and  supporting students in their efforts to compete at this high level in the coming year,” said Suzanne McCray vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions and nationally competitive awards. “The dedicated support of the colleges, the departments, and faculty and staff creates an environment of success for these opportunities.”

NATIONALLY COMPETITIVE AWARDS GOLD MEDALS

2023 Faculty Gold Medals:

• Laurent Ballaiche - distinguished professor, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
• Han Hu - assistant professor, College of Engineering
• Carl Matthews - professor, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
• Christopher Nelson - assistant professor, College of Engineering
• Jared Phillips - teaching assistant professor, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
• Russell Rudzinski - teaching assistant professor, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
• Stephanie Thomas - associate professor of practice, Walton College of Business
• George Wardlow - professor and chair, Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

2023 Staff Gold Medals

• John Treat – former director of interdisciplinary and curricular learning, Honors College
• Summer Rae Wilkie – youth coordinator for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative

2023 Departmental Gold Medal

• Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering

2023 Community Partner Gold Medal

• Canopy Northwest Arkansas

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.

Office of Nationally Competitive Awards: University of Arkansas students and recent alumni interested in applying for scholarships and fellowships and faculty wishing to identify competitive should students should contact the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at awards@uark.edu or 479-575-3771. More information is available at awards.uark.edu.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.