Woodward Center
Awards
In This Section
Woodward Center
Recognizing Educators
This award was established in 2008 to recognize faculty members who make outstanding contributions to medical, graduate and physician assistant education at the College of Medicine.
The Distinguished Educator Award recognizes exemplary educators among the faculty of Penn State College of Medicine. Award recipients become members of the Society of Distinguished Educators.
To be eligible for a Distinguished Educator Award, faculty members must have held an appointment at Penn State College of Medicine or Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for a minimum of three years and hold the rank of at least associate professor or equivalent.
In addition to demonstrated excellence as a teacher, nominees will have made exceptional contributions in medical (which could include undergraduate or graduate) education and/or graduate student (which could include postdoctoral) education in one or more of the following ways:
Research in education (e.g., publications or grants)
Innovations in teaching methods or curriculum (e.g., new ways to teach subject matter)
Development of new assessment methods
Mentoring and development of faculty
Leadership in education (e.g., course director, program director, involvement at national level)
Distinguished Educator awardees receive:
The Distinguished Educator title
Membership in the Society of Distinguished Educators
A medallion signifying the wearer as a Distinguished Educator
Recognition on the Distinguished Educator plaque
A $1,500 financial award to be used at the discretion of the Distinguished Educator
Free rental of academic regalia for Commencement
Penn State College of Medicine values the contributions mentors make to enhance and develop the careers of faculty, students and trainees. Generosity of time and spirit; objectivity and honest feedback; and commitment to the personal, professional and career development of mentees are some of the components of superb mentoring.
In order to recognize the contributions of outstanding mentors in the College of Medicine, the Office of Faculty and Professional Development presents four annual Excellence in Career Mentoring Awards.
The awards acknowledge the exceptional effort of faculty who enable and empower students, residents and trainees, junior faculty and peers on their path to achieve their full potential in one or more of the organization’s missions: clinical care, scholarship and research, teaching and/or service.
The Junior Faculty Teaching Award recipients are selected by the Society of Distinguished Educators as a means of recognizing the accomplishments of some of the outstanding junior faculty who are already making an impact on the educational mission. Recipients of this award are program leaders, instructional designers, education scholars and, above all, great teachers.
This award is arguably the most competitive educational award available through the College of Medicine.
Each year, medical students who are completing their clerkships show their appreciation for their GME colleagues by nominating them for the annual Residents and Fellows as Educators Award, formerly called the Resident Excellence in Teaching Award. These awards acknowledge GME trainees’ outstanding work happening every day on the College of Medicine’s teaching services.
The Student Educator Award was established to recognize the teaching impact of graduate and medical student colleagues, who are instrumental in the College of Medicine’s education mission.