The Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching annually recognizes a maximum of ten faculty members for their teaching excellence.
Students, faculty, and alumni may nominate faculty; and a committee of students, previous recipients, and alumni choose the recipients.
Recipients are recognized with a $5,000 honorarium made possible by gifts from The Ohio State University Alumni Association, University Advancement, and the Office of Academic Affairs. In addition, the Office of Academic Affairs awards an increase of $1,200 to each recipient’s base salary. Members are also inducted into the Academy of Teaching.
Full-time Ohio State faculty members on all campuses with the rank of instructor through full professor in the clinical or tenure track who, in the past three years, have taught undergraduate and/or graduate/professional students are eligible for this award. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible. Eligible faculty must be currently employed and have taught anytime between August 2022-May 2025.
Honorees
Nomination Information
Nomination period for the 2025-26 awards is open. Nominations open the first week in August and close the First Friday in October each year.
Instructions: Below are the questions you will be asked to respond to using the online nomination portal. The information below is to help you prepare your submission. Nominations are not accepted via email.
What to Expect:
Step 1. Select the Nomination Form button below.
Step 2. The first screen asks you to select the award for which you are nominating. Then you will enter the name of the faculty member you wish to nominate and select the individual from a dropdown list.
Step 3. You will be asked to provide your name, email address and Ohio State affiliation
Step 4: You will be asked to answer 3 questions (500-word max for each question). The questions are: 1) Why do you believe this faculty member should receive the University’s highest teaching award?; 2) Comment on the classroom experience this faculty member creates.; 3) Comment on the access and availability of this faculty member both in and out of the classroom teaching experience. (e.g., hours available, willingness to assist students with personal improvement efforts, responsiveness to requests)
Distinguished Teaching Nomination Form
The nomination deadline is Oct. 3, 2025. For further information, please contact Jacqueline Honeck honeck.7@osu.edu.