Ceremony recognizes faculty efforts to enhance diversity and equity

More than 30 faculty members and their colleagues were recognized at a Monday, April 30, reception in Guild Lounge for their efforts to enhance diversity and equity at Northwestern University. 

The Daniel I. Linzer Awards for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity and the Daniel I. Linzer Grants for Innovation in Diversity and Equity bolster faculty efforts to build a more diverse, inclusive and equitable climate on campus. The initiatives are designed to enhance diversity across the spectrum, including sex, gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status, age, political affiliation, religion, philosophy or sexual orientation. 

The nomination and application processes are now open for the 2019 Linzer awards and grants. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1, 2018.

At the April 30 reception, Northwestern University Provost Jonathan Holloway welcomed the 2018 award and grant recipients and thanked them for their role in University efforts to foster diversity and inclusion for all at Northwestern.

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Dean Adrian Randolph introduced the 2018 Linzer award recipients, Nitasha Sharma and Lane Fenrich, both faculty members in Weinberg College. They each received $5,000 to support their work on behalf of increasing diversity through programs that prepare and provide resources for success for underrepresented and first-generation students.

The Linzer grants provided $184,110 this year to support 15 projects across the schools. The projects involve curricular innovation, pipeline advancement projects that encourage student success and community outreach in Chicago and Evanston.

Faculty projects which were awarded grants include Black Men LEAD, led by School of Education and Social Policy professors Nichole Pinkard and Marcus Campbell along with Alan Anderson of Neighborhood and Community Relations. The project will launch a conference to bring together black male undergraduate and high school students from Northwestern and Evanston Township High School.

Feinberg School of Medicine faculty Shawn Smith, Nana Matoba and Chariya Christmon received funding for their Healing Babies Without Bias project to assess baseline unconscious bias among staff in the neonatal intensive care unit and to develop and deliver educational activities to address those biases.

See additional grant projects on the Office of the Provost website.

Application process now open for 2019 Linzer awards and grants

Linzer award nomination process: 

Two recipients of the Linzer award will receive $5,000 each to honor their work in building diversity and inclusion on campus. Any member of the Northwestern community (student, faculty, trainee, staff or alumni) can nominate a faculty member or faculty group who demonstrates positive and collaborative leadership in building diversity in the Northwestern community. 

Download the nomination form and instructions on the Office of the Provost website.

Linzer grant application process:

Recipients of the Linzer grants will receive funds ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on the scope of their project, to expand or begin new projects aimed at enhancing diversity and equity at Northwestern. All faculty members are eligible to apply for funds to support new projects or to build upon existing initiatives. Proposals should explain the projects’ potential to affect measurable, positive impact on the education of undergraduate students or the climate of faculty recruitment, hiring, development and retention at Northwestern. 

Download the grant application form and instructions on the Office of the Provost website.

Nominations and applications must be submitted by Nov. 1. Award and grant recipients will be announced by winter quarter 2019. Funds will be distributed during spring quarter. Funded projects should commence by fall quarter 2019.