Morrill Award recognizes faculty's outstanding career achievements

April 27, 2012

A new annual award honoring West Lafayette faculty members' outstanding career achievements was presented at the Faculty Awards Convocation on April 26.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the federal Morrill Act, which allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges and universities, the Office of the Provost gave four Morrill Awards to faculty members who have excelled as teachers, researchers and scholars, and in engagement missions. The awards are named for Justin Smith Morrill, the Vermont congressman who sponsored the 1862 legislation that bears his name.

The Inaugural Morrill Award was presented to Victor Lechtenberg, special assistant to the president and director of the Center for Regional Development, whose career embodies the award's spirit of excellence and synergy among teaching, research and engagement.

The 2012 Morrill Award winners were R. Graham Cooks, the Henry B. Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry; Mark Lundstrom, the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Eugene Spafford, professor of computer science; and Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor of human development and family studies.

Each 2012 Morrill Award was accompanied by a $30,000 prize, which may be used as discretionary funds or as salary supplements.