Awards
Distinguished Faculty Governance Award
Faculty members who consistently place University-wide interests on the same level as their personal career and departmental interests represent a scarce resource that all faculty members treasure. Their concern with the general welfare protects and nourishes our individual welfare. The kinds of corporate activities these University citizens take on give us a secure sense of collective conscience. Faculty governance is the arena in which these citizens serve, and it is faculty governance through the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs that recognizes their accomplishments with this award.
The Distinguished Faculty Governance Award of $1,500 was established by SACUA in 1986 and is funded by the Alumni Association. The criterion for the award is distinguished service to faculty governance over several years with an emphasis on university-wide service
Current SACUA members are ineligible, as are those SACUA members from the immediate past year. All members of the University Senate are eligible for consideration.
Please submit nomination materials at the Faculty Senate awards nomination page. The deadline for the 2025 award cycle is May 7, 2025.
- A nomination letter outlining the faculty members’ work, participation, and contributions for Central Faculty Governance. (Required)
- Nominee’s CV (Required)
- Additional supporting statements (optional)
Nomination Eligibility Duration: Nominees are eligible for three years: the current year and, if not selected, they will also be automatically included in the pool of candidates for the next two award cycles.
If you have any questions about the award or the nomination process, please contact the Faculty Senate Office at facultysenateoffice@
Dinesh Pal - 2024 Recipient
Associate professor of anesthesiology, and of molecular and integrative physiology, Medical School
Pal, a neuroscientist studying the neural regulation of arousal states, is an effective and respected champion within the Faculty Senate for equity, inclusion and shared governance. Pal earned a B.S. in applied zoology in 1997 and an M.S. in zoology in 1999 from the University of Delhi, and a postgraduate diploma in international law and diplomacy in 2000. He completed a Ph.D. in sleep neurobiology in 2006 at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and postdoctoral training at the University of California-Berkeley and U-M. He is the chair of Committee on Rules, Practices and Policies, has served on the Committee on Civil Rights and Liberties and the Committee on Fairness, Equity and Inclusion, was a Senate Assembly member, and chaired the Committee on Antiracism. He spearheaded the efforts to include caste as a protected category in non-discrimination language and brought forth a resolution to condemn anti-Asian racism. He succeeded in prompting the Senate to explore establishing a memorial acknowledging the land Native American tribes granted U-M and advocating for their descendants’ involvement across the tri-campuses.
The 2024 awardee information (above) was written and provided by the Office of University Development, as published in a 2024 University Record article.
Previous Distinguished Faculty Governance Award Recipients
2023 — Natalia V. Czap, Professor of Economics, UM-Dearborn
2022 — Neil Marsh, LSA Chemistry, and Medical School
2022 — David Potter, LSA Classical Studies
2021 — Silke-Maria Weineck, LSA German Studies and Comparative Literature
2020 — Not Applicable – No Award Made
2019 — Deborah Goldberg, Literature, Science, and the Arts
2018 — Bruce Maxim, UM Dearborn, College of Engineering and Computer Science
2017 — Scott Masten, Ross School of Business
2016 — Rich Friedman, Law School
2015 — Karen Staller, School of Social Work
2014 — Keith Riles, LSA Physics
2013 — Bruno Giordani, LSA Psychology
2012 — Michael Thouless, Engineering
2011 — David Potter, Classical Studies, LSA
2011 — Robert Axelrod, Public Policy and LSA-Political Science
2010 — Bruce Frier, Law & LSA
2010 — Stanley Berent, Medicine
2008 — Semyon Meerkov, Engineering
2007 — Fred Askari, Medicine
2007 — George Brewer, Medicine
2006 — William D. Ensminger, Medicine
2005 — Cynthia Luz Marcelo, Medicine
2004 — Louis G. D’Alecy, Medicine
2004 — William W. Schultz, Engineering
2003 — Charles B. Smith, Medicine
2002 — Alphonse R. Burdi, Medicine
2001 — Jackie Lawson, UM-Dearborn
2000 — Thomas Dunn, Chemistry, LSA (Emeritus)
1999 — John T. Lehman, Biology, LSA
1999 — Sheila Feld, Social Work
1998 — Thomas E. Moore, Biology, LSA
1997 — Beth Glover Reed, Social Work
1996 — Theodore J. St. Antoine, Law
1995 — Gayle D. Ness, Sociology, LSA
1994 — Peggie J. Hollingsworth, Emeritus
1993 — Donald R. Brown, Psychology, LSA
1992 — Claude A. Eggertsen, Education (Emeritus)
1991 — Daniel E. Moerman, Anthropology, UM-Dearborn
1990 — Wilbert J. McKeachie, Psychology, LSA
1990 — William C. Stebbins, Medicine
1989 — Donald R. Deskins, Jr., Sociology, LSA
1988 — Cecil Nesbitt, Mathematics, LSA
1987 — Ralph A. Loomis, English, LSA
1986 — Janice B. Lindberg, Nursing
1986 — Wilfred Kaplan, Mathematics, LSA