Nominations for Memorial University’s most prestigious faculty award close April 1.

Named for the first president of Memorial University College, the John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship is presented annually to a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional teaching, undertakes world-class research and shares his or her knowledge and expertise nationally and internationally.

“The John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship Award is an important honour recognizing the outstanding research, teaching and public engagement contributions of faculty at Memorial,” said Dr. Ray Gosine, vice-president, research, pro tempore.

Team effort

Dr. Alex Faseruk, last year’s award winner and professor emeritus with the Faculty of Business Administration, says a strong team approach is an asset for those nominated for the John Lewis Paton award.

“It’s a team concept because there are so many people who’ve contributed to this, including the research teams who carry out the research and who ensure that the research results have impact and are widely disseminated,” he said.

“This award builds the prestige of the unit and draws attention towards it . . . and helps to build bridges to other constituencies and, of course, there’s both a national and international dimension to it as external scholars have to write on your behalf.”

Distinguished University Professor

The award recipient receives the lifetime designation Distinguished University Professor and a one-time, unrestricted grant of up to $20,000 to support future research, teaching and learning and public engagement activities at the university. The award terms of reference are online.

John Lewis Paton was president of Memorial University College from 1925-33.