UMSL Faculty and staff regularly earn external awards that supports their work. Learn more about the awards the UMSL community have received.
Each year, the University of Missouri-St. Louis Office of Research and Community & Economic Development honors outstanding faculty in the areas of research, invention, and commercialization.
Previous Winners
Senior Faculty Investigator of the Year Award Winners
2024: Rachel Winograd, associate professor, Department of Psychological Sciences and Missouri Institute of Mental Health
2023: Xuemin “Sam” Wang, E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor in Plant Sciences, Department of Biology
2022: Jerry Dunn, clinical professor and executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis
2021: Jerome Morris, E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Urban Education, Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership
2020: Brendolyn Bailey-Burch, senior research associate, MIMH
2019: Beth Huebner, professor, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice
2018: David Tate, associate research professor, MIMH
2017: Alexei Demchenko, Curators’ Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2015: Sharon Johnson, professor, Social Work
2014: Robert Paul, professor, Department of Psychology
2013: Matthew Hile, research associate professor, Missouri Institute of Mental Health
Junior Faculty Investigator of the Year Award Winners
2024: Anita Manion, assistant professor, Department of Political Science
2023: Ryan Carpenter, assistant professor, Department of Biology
2022: Lon Chubiz, associate professor, Department of Biology
2021: Michael Gearhart, assistant professor, School of Social Work
2020: Sharlee Climer, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science
2019: Billy Dunaway, assistant professor, Department of Philosophy
2018: Jianli Pan, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
2017: James Shuls, assistant professor, Department of Educator Preparation, Innovation and Research
2014: Mindy Steiniger, assistant professor, Department of Biology
2013: April Regester, assistant professor, College of Education
Co-Investigators of the Year Award Winners
2024: Emily Brown, associate professor, and Mary Edwin, assistant professor, Department of Education Sciences & Professional Programs
2023: Natalie Bolton, associate professor, Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership; Dr. Phyllis Balcerzak, associate teaching professor, Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership; Dr. Chanua Ross, director of program operations, Professional Learning & Innovation, College of Education
2022: Aimee Dunlap, associate professor, Department of Biology; and Nathan Muchhala, associate professor, Department of Biology
2021: Shea Kerkhoff, assistant professor, College of Education
Katherine O'Daniels, assistant teaching professor, Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership
Nancy Singer, associate dean and associate professor, Department of Educator Preparation & Leadership
2020: Keith Stine, Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Alexei Demchenko, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
2019 (new award in 2019): Melinda Bier, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Character & Citizenship Education Marvin Berkowitz, Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor for Character Education, Department of Education Preparation & Leadership
Faculty Inventor/Innovator of the Year Award
2024: Michael Nichols, professor and associate chair, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
2023: Vijay Anand, associate professor, Department of Information & Systems Technology
2022: Felia Davenport, associate professor, Department of Communication and Media; and Uma Segal, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, School of Social Work
2021: Jianli Pan, associate professor, Department of Computer Science
2020: Carl Bassi, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor, College of Optometry
2018: George Gokel, distinguished professor of science, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
2017: Zhi Xu, associate professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2015: Haitao Li, associate professor, College of Business Administration
2014: Janet Braddock-Wilking, associate professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2013: Xuemin "Sam" Wang, E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Plant Science, Department of Biology
Student Inventor/Innovator of the Year Award Winners
2013: Mohit Patel
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
Selection of the "Senior Faculty Investigator of the Year" and the "Junior Faculty Investigator of the Year" awards winners is based on criteria that can include, but are not limited to, the following: amount of grant funding during the previous calendar year, the largest increase in funding during the previous calendar year, the potential significance of the nominee’s research in their discipline, and novelty of the research. Eligible candidates include current UMSL faculty members, either tenure-track or non-tenure-track, who have been PI on an internal or external grant awarded in the previous calendar year.
Criteria for the "Co-Investigators of the Year" award are the same as the individual award criteria above, but eligible candidates are teams of investigators (2+ investigators) who have served as co-investigators on at least one funded research project.
Selection of the "Innovator of the Year" award winner is based on criteria that can include, but are not limited to, the following: having disclosed to the University a discovery/invention that has contributed (or has the potential to contribute) significantly to the public good, economy, research funding to UMSL, regional entrepreneurship, and advancement of science and useful arts. Eligible candidates include faculty and staff with an active invention disclosure on file with UMSL during the previous calendar year.
Current student inventors are eligible for the "Student Innovator of the Year" based on the same criteria for the faculty innovator award.
Recognition
Each winner receives $500 dollars and is recognized at the annual UMSL Research & Innovation reception event.
Note: Not every award is given each year. No awards were given in 2016 as no recognition event could be held due to budget restrictions.
