Distinguished Researcher Awards - Research Office

Distinguished Researcher Awards Call for Nomination

Since 2002, Montana Tech has presented annual Distinguished Researcher Awards to honor faculty and MBMG staff for their contributions to research and scholarly activity. Each award includes an award plaque, a listing on the Researcher Award Plaque in the hallway of the MG building, and $1,000 for an annual award or $2,000 for a lifetime award. Up to four awards may be conferred each year. In addition, up to one Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award may be granted to celebrate the recipient’s extraordinary, long-term research accomplishments at Montana Tech.

Deadlines

Deadlines are as follows:

  • First Round Nominations (name & department) are due to suanderson@mtech.edu by Thursday, February 19, 2025, 5:00 pm.
  • Nomination Packages are due to suanderson@mtech.edu by Tuesday, March 10, 2025, 5:00 pm.

For First Round nominations, anyone is eligible to nominate, and individuals are welcome to self-nominate. To nominate, email name and department of the nominee to suanderson@mtech.edu. The Research Office will inform the nominated individuals promptly, so the nominee will have enough time to submit their full nomination package by 5:00 pm on March 7, 2025. Late packages will not be reviewed.

The awards will be presented at the Montana Tech Service Awards gathering on April 23, 2025.

Distinguished Researcher Award Description
Objectives

The purpose of this program is to recognize outstanding contributions to campus research and scholarly activity by the faculty and staff of Montana Tech. The program will make up to four awards annually in the amount of $1,000: three to members of the Montana Tech faculty and one to a member of the MBMG staff. This award is known as the Montana Tech Distinguished Researcher Award. A special, one-time Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award that recognizes the sustained, long-term career accomplishments of senior faculty and researchers may also be made. The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) oversees the Distinguished Researcher Award Program.

Eligibility

Faculty members of Montana Tech, Highlands College, or employees of the MBMG on Board of Regents or Letter Contract are eligible for the award. Part-time or adjunct faculty may be eligible if the research efforts being recognized were performed at Montana Tech or Highlands College. Any individual who has received a Distinguished Researcher Award during the past three years shall not be eligible for nomination this year. Individuals may only receive one Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award during his or her career. Note: Once a nominee has received a Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award, that individual is no longer eligible for a future annual award. Up to one awardee may be selected in each category: MBMG, SME, CLSPS, Highlands College, and Lifetime.

Nomination Instructions

The Full Nomination Package must include the following:

  1. A Nomination cover letter (written by the nominee) not longer than 2 pages, which names the nominee, and provides a one- to two-sentence summary of the nominee’s research accomplishments, along with more detailed description and summary justification for choosing the nominee. The nomination should emphasize, for example the proposals, projects, papers, presentations, funding, mentoring of students in research, leadership of research initiatives, fostering of research partnerships or collaborations, etc. Pedagogical research, disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, and other forms of creative scholarship are eligible.
  2. The nominee’s current curriculum vitae.
  3. Two letters of support emphasizing the nominee’s accomplishments and contributions in research and creative scholarship. If the nomination is a self-nomination, letters of support from three references are required. Lifetime award nominations need three letters of support.
  4. Copies of up to two recent examples of published papers (or the equivalent for the discipline). Recent publication dates span 2018 through 2024.

Note: Only research conducted while the nominee has been a member of the Montana Tech faculty will be considered. Please include any research you have done during your time at Montana Tech in collaboration with other institutions, even if that research was done off campus. Please do not submit any additional materials, as they will be ignored. All materials must be submitted together as a single PDF file.

A list of past recipients of the award can be found below:

Annual Distinguished Researcher Award Winners
Year First Name Last Name Department
2024 Rick LaDoucer Mechanical Engineering
2024 Robert Pal Biological Sciences
2023 Yann Gavillot MBMG
2023 Roger Jensen  Safety, Health, and Industrial Hygiene
2023 Marisa Pedulla Biology
2022 Peter Lucon Mechanical Engineering 
2022 Chris  Danielson Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
2021 Jack  Skinner Mechanical Engineering
2021 Atish Mitra Mathematical Sciences
2021 Alysia Cox Chemistry & Geochemistry
2020 Raja Nagisetty  Environmental Engineering
2020 Jesse Mosolf MBMG
2020 Stella Capoccia Biological Sciences
2020 Elyse Lovell Highlands College
2019 Elizabeth Meredith MBMG
2019 Isabel Sobral Campos CLSPS
2019 Katherine Zodrow Lance College of Mines and Engineering

Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award Winners
Year First Name Last Name Department
2024 Pat Munday Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
2023 Jerry Downey Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
2022  John  Amtmann Biological Sciences
2021 Marvin Speece Geological Engineering
2020 Mary MacLaughlin Geological Engineering
2019 Mike Stickney MBMG
2018 Huang Hsin-Hsiung Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
2017 Chris Gammons Geological Engineering
2017 Daniel Trudnowski Electrical Engineering
2016 Courtney Young Metallurgy
2015 Susan Vuke MBMG
2014 Amy Kuenzi Biological Sciences
2013 Richard Rossi Mathematical Sciences
2012 Robin McCulloch MBMG
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