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​Award Guidelines and Nomination Instructions​

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Honor a colleague by submitting a nomination for one of the following APS awards. ​R​eview guidelines and the general instructions prior to submitting your award nomination.​​

• Award of Distinction​​​
  
• Fellow​​
  
• Distinguished Service Award​
  
• Excellence in Extension Award
  
• Excellence in Industry Award
  
• Excellence in Regulatory Affairs and Crop Security Award
  
• Excellence in Teaching Award
• Excellence in International Service Award
• Ruth Allen Award
• Lee M. Hutchins Award
  
• Noel T. Keen Award for Research Excellence in Molecular Plant Pathology (next award presented in 2024)​​
  

Early Career Awards

• Syngenta Award​
  
• William Boright Hewitt and Maybelle Ellen Ball Hewitt Award
  

Nomination Guidelines​

• Nominees must be current APS members in good standing. APS membership is not required for the Award of Distinction and the Ruth Allen Award​.
  
• In general, nominations for any award should specify how the contributions in the current nomination differ from those used as a basis for a previous APS award.
  
• Fellows are not eligible to be nominated for one of the Award of Execellence ​​except when the new nominations are for accomplishments different from that on which the Fellow nomination was based, and the new accomplishment has occurred after recognition as a Fellow. A period of 5 years should elapse between recognition as a Fellow and nomination for an award of excellence. The nomination of a Fellow for an award of excellence must specify how the contributions in the current nomination differ from those on which the original Fellow award was based.​
  
• All award nominations (except for Lee M. Hutchins and Hewitt Award that stand for only one year) are considered for 3 years.
• ​If a nomination is not successful in the first year, the nominator is encouraged to update the letter and resubmit a complete nomination package. 
  
• If by the third year the individual is not selected, it is advised to wait three (3) years between the last year of consideration before submitting a new nomination package. ​
• Noel T. Keen award is presented every other year (Nominations are accepted for the 2024 award)
  
• The Awards and Honors Committee​ may decide not to make a named award in years without suitable nominations.
• Deceased members are not eligible for any APS award if they died before nomination.
  

General Instructions

Each member of the society may nominate one candidate a year for each of the above mentioned awards. Nominations should address the activities most relevant to the award, with a clear statement of the impact the nominee has had in their specific area of expertise. 

The nomination packet must include the following supporting material:

1. Nomination Form is a writeable .pdf. Access nominations form to open; complete the form, save to your computer, and then insert the nomination form as your first page of your complete nomination .pdf file for uploading via the online submission form​.  
   ACCESS NOMINATION​ FORM
2. A cover letter with the candidate’s name and the award for which the nomination is made. The letter (not to exceed one page) may provide additional insight into the significance of the contributions that is not given in the nomination statement or form. Multiple letters of support should not be provided for a candidate’s nomination. Electronic signatures are accepted.
3. A nomination statement not to exceed 1,000 words that highlights the contributions of the candidate and includes the candidate’s name, place of birth, and institutions, with degrees and years granted, as well as current position. The statement should be focused and succinct and document the relevancy and impact of the candidate’s contributions to the advancement of science and plant pathology. This statement is used for the award announcement in Phytopathology News. 
   
4. A 125-word or less awardee narrative statement​ that is read aloud during the awards ceremony. ​The following points have been gleaned from experience in narration of many nomination summaries. While there is great room for creativity in this process, the following characteristics are common among the most effective summaries:
   

• ​Introduce the name efficiently, include current position and affiliation only. 

• Focus the remainder of the summary on the MOST important and high-impact contribution of the nominee.

• Avoid windy institute names, endowed or honorary titles, previous awards, unfamiliar or obscure acronyms or abbreviations. They are awkward in a spoken statement. 

• Read the finished nomination summary aloud to a few generalist colleagues and revise accordingly. 

• Please ​include a phonetic spelling of the nominee's name​​​​​​​.

​​​​   5. A curriculum vitae, not to exceed two pages. 

   6. A complete list of publications. The list should be separated into the following categories, with
       most recent publications first. Abstracts and manuscripts not yet accepted should NOT be included.

• ​​​​Refereed journal articles
• Extension publications
  
• Books, reviews, and book chapters
• Technical publications (e.g., monographs, reports, symposium papers, proceedings, etc.) 
• Popular publications 
  
• Invited presentations
  

Submit Your Nomination

The above mentioned materials are to be saved and uploaded via the online nomination form by December 1 of each year. The Awards and Honors Committee will forward their recommendations to APS Council in February. Those receiving awards will be notified by the APS President by late February/early March. Do not e-mail nominations directly to committee members. Nominations must be received via the online submission form for compilation and transmission to the committee.​

SUBMIT NOMINATION P​​​ACKAGE​