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 2026 award cycle is May 6, 2026.
- 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@
Michèle Hannoosh - 2025 Recipient
Professor of French, department of romance languages and literatures, LSA; and faculty ombuds, Office of the Provost & Executive Vice President Academic Affairs
Michèle A. Hannoosh is highly regarded not only for her scholarly achievements as an accomplished professor of French, but also for her years of service as a faculty ombudsperson, wherein she has steadfastly championed the values of fairness, respect and ethical conduct across the campus community. She joined U-M’s faculty in 2003; chaired the Romance Languages and Literature Department from 2006-10; served as LSA ombuds from 2015-17; and worked as university faculty ombuds from 2018-25. In this role, Hannoosh helped mediate thorny disputes across campus by listening to those involved, weighing university policy alongside her sense of justice, and hatching creative, mutually beneficial solutions. With both sensitivity and candor, she helped defuse disagreements that might have otherwise escalated to formal action, earning widespread trust across the university community. She has also served on numerous committees, including the Divisional Evaluation Committee for the Humanities in LSA. Though she stepped down as chair of her department over a decade ago, Hannoosh continues to volunteer her leadership, often presiding over the department’s convocation ceremonies and supporting her colleagues and students in countless ways.
The 2025 awardee information provided above is from the October 27th, 2025, University Record article, Thirty-five to receive faculty awards at annual celebration.
Previous Distinguished Faculty Governance Award Recipients
2024 — Dinesh Pal, Medical School
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