Distinguished Retiree Excellence Award
The Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Scholarship/Community Service Award honors a UofL retiree or team of UofL retirees for excellence in scholarship or service post-retirement that exemplifies the University’s Cardinal values with special distinction.
The award pays tribute to retired UofL faculty and staff from throughout the UofL community who have demonstrated dedication to scholarship or community service that has had an exceptional impact on the university and its vision to be a great place to learn, work, and in which to invest. The award celebrates quality of scholarship or service (improvement, impact, and outside recognition), with length of service valued but not required.
Award Overview & Criteria
The nomination period for this award is from December 1 to February 15 each year.
Who can nominate someone?
Nominations can come from any member of the campus community: retirees, any member of the present campus community, alumni, students, etc. Self-nominations are not allowed.
Who can be nominated?
A UofL retiree, who is a former employee of the University of Louisville who worked the required number of years to be eligible for official UofL retirement and subsequently officially retired from the University of Louisville. Questions about the eligibility of a specific person will be addressed by the Employee Success Center during the review process.
Nomination Form Requirements
A nomination letter must be submitted with the nomination form. It is a one-page letter addressed to the selection committee outlining the reasons this nominee should receive the award. Characteristics to Address in the Nomination Letter include:
- Stature of service or scholarship: Following retirement from the University of Louisville, the nominee has given distinguished service or scholarship to the community in or beyond the University of Louisville, at the local, regional, state, national or international level. Service that draws upon the career discipline of the nominee may be considered.
- How have lives been impacted by the nominee’s service?
- How far has the impact of this service been felt (regional/state/national level)?
- To what extent has this service had an impact or improved the community served?
- Connection to the University of Louisville: Has the nominee’s service or scholarship been related in any way to UofL? For example, has the nominee’s connection to UofL been highlighted? Has the project itself become connected to the UofL?
- Additional letters of support can be included, but the form itself must be complete. If you are aware the multiple people would like to nominate the same person, you are encouraged to submit one nomination but include additional letters of support combined in a PDF via the upload document field.
Number of Award Recipients
One recipient may be selected each year.
Selection Criteria & Guidelines
A selection committee of peers will review each nomination and provide their recommended winner(s).
The award is based on contributions in scholarship or service to the community, including the University or the local, regional, national, or international community after retirement. These accomplishments may involve service to the university, career or professional activities, volunteer civic or community services or other achievements you believe the committee should consider.
Nominees shall be at least three years post-retirement, to have established a trajectory of distinguished community service post-retirement. While the retiree(s) may have continued in or returned to part-time employment at UofL, this award honors service that is not compensated by or through UofL. Compensated accomplishments are excluded from consideration for this service award.
What Winners Receive
Once winners are selected, they will be notified via email. They will receive:
- A cash award of $500 from the University of Louisville Association of Retired Personnel (ULARP)
- An engraved glass award
- Recognition in UofL Today
- A highlight on the Employee Success Center website
- Recognition at the Annual Presidential Excellence Reception
Questions?
For any questions, please email recognition@louisville.edu.
Submit a nomination
Nomination forms can be submitted via this webpage beginning in January, with a deadline of February 15, 2025. You can begin preparing now by reviewing the nomination form requirements listed above.
