Purpose
The D. Wynne Thorne Career Research, Innovation, and Impact Award is Utah State University's highest career recognition for faculty whose research, scholarship, innovation, creative activity, or community-engaged scholarship has demonstrated sustained distinction and significant impact.
The award honors a body of work that has advanced knowledge, inspired innovation, enriched society, strengthened communities, or enhanced understanding through research, scholarship, or creative activity. A substantial portion of these accomplishments should have occurred during the nominee's tenure at Utah State University. The award recognizes achievement distinct from teaching and service while acknowledging that impactful scholarship may take many forms across disciplines.
Scope of Recognized Contributions
Consistent with Utah State University's broad definition of scholarship, contributions appropriate for consideration may include:
- Fundamental or discovery-based research that advances knowledge within a field.
- Applied, translational, or use-inspired research that influences practice, policy, health, industry, agriculture, education, resource management, or public decision-making.
- Humanities and social science scholarship that embodies rigorous analysis with a broad and distinctive impact.
- Creative and scholarly contributions in the arts and design disciplines, including public exhibitions and performances.
- Engineering, technological, and entrepreneurial innovation, including patents, licensed technologies, software, instruments, standards, and data resources.
- Community-engaged and extension scholarship conducted in partnership with communities, agencies, tribal groups, organizations, or industry.
- Interdisciplinary scholarship that creates new knowledge or addresses complex societal challenges.
Eligibility
Nominees must:
- Hold the rank of Professor.
- Be a current Utah State University faculty member.
- Have completed at least ten years of service at Utah State University.
- Demonstrate a sustained record of exceptional impact and distinction.
- Be in good standing with the University and exhibit the highest standards of professional conduct, research integrity, and ethical behavior.
Evaluation Criteria
The award recognizes career-long achievement and impact. Reviewers will consider accomplishments within the norms and expectations of the nominee's discipline.
Evaluation will be guided by the following criteria:
Scholarly, Research, or Creative Excellence (35%)
The originality, significance, quality, and influence of the nominee's body of work.
National and/or International Recognition (25%)
Recognition by peers through awards, honors, invited presentations, exhibitions, performances, publications, citations, leadership roles, or other indicators of distinction appropriate to the discipline.
Broader Impact and Benefit (20%)
Influence on science, scholarship, creative practice, education, policy, industry, communities, economic development, public well-being, culture, or society.
Sustained Career Contributions (10%)
Evidence of a continuing record of achievement and impact over the course of a career.
Research Leadership, Mentorship, and Integrity (10%)
Contributions to the development of students, postdoctoral scholars, and colleagues, as well as demonstrated commitment to research ethics and professional integrity.
Nominees may be disqualified from consideration by the Office of Research or the President based on substantiated findings of research misconduct, professional ethical violations, or other serious breaches of professional conduct that are inconsistent with the standards expected of recipients of the award.
Examples of Evidence
Recognizing that excellence is demonstrated differently across disciplines, nominees may present evidence such as:
Research and Scholarship
- Publications and books
- Citation impact, such as h-index
- Competitive grants and contracts
- Invited keynote presentations
- Scientific discoveries
- Influential interdisciplinary contributions
Creative Activities
- Books and scholarly editions
- Exhibitions
- Performances
- Compositions
- Productions
- Curatorial work
- Critical reviews and recognition
Innovation and Technology Impacts
- Patents
- Licensed technologies
- Startup creation
- Software tools
- Data resources
- Technical standards
- Instrumentation, data, and workflows adopted by others
- Sustained industry partnerships
Community and Applied Impact
- Policy adoption
- Changes in professional practice
- Resource management outcomes
- Clinical implementation
- Industry adoption
- Community-based outcomes
- Extension impacts and partnerships
Nomination Materials
Nomination Letter (Maximum 3 pages)
Any faculty member, department, or college within the university may make nominations for the Thorne Award. The nomination letter should:
- Describe the nominee's most significant contributions.
- Explain the impact of the nominee's work within and beyond their discipline.
- Provide context that allows reviewers from different disciplines to understand the significance of the accomplishments.
- Address why the nominee represents the highest level of achievement at Utah State University.
Impact Statement (Maximum 4 pages)
Prepared by the nominee.
The statement should describe:
- Major career contributions.
- Significance and influence of the work.
- Evidence of impact.
- Evidence of national and/or international standing.
- Contributions benefiting society, culture, industry, policy, communities, or the advancement of knowledge.
- Mentorship and leadership contributions.
Curriculum Vitae
The CV should include full documentation of scholarly, creative, professional, and innovation-related accomplishments and mentoring activities in research or creative activities.
External Reviewer List
A ranked list of three to five nationally or internationally recognized experts qualified to evaluate the nominee's work. The nominee can contribute to the preparation of this list. The Office of Research will contact three reviewers confidentially to solicit their evaluations, and this ranked list will guide outreach if a reviewer is unavailable or declines.
Professional Photograph
Portrait-format photograph for award announcements and recognition materials. The photograph will not be included in the materials reviewed by the selection committee.
Review Process
To ensure fairness, consistency, and transparency, the review process consists of the following stages:
- Administrative review for eligibility and completeness.
- Solicitation of external evaluations.
- Review and scoring by the D. Wynne Thorne Award Committee using published evaluation criteria.
- Confidential review of professional standing, research integrity, and policy compliance.
- Submission of committee recommendations to the Vice President for Research.
- Recommendation forwarded to the President.
- Selection of the award recipient by the President.
The complete committee charge, evaluation criteria, and review procedures are published on the Office of Research website to promote transparency and institutional trust.
Committee members are nominated by their college Dean or the Vice President for Extension. Each committee member completes a conflict-of-interest disclosure which is reviewed by the Office of Research prior to granting access to nomination materials.
Recognition
The recipient will:
- Receive $7,500 honorarium.
- Be recognized at the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony.
- Present the annual D. Wynne Thorne Lecture.
- Be permanently recognized as a recipient of Utah State University's highest honor for career research, scholarship, innovation, and impact.