Jacob A. Lutz III Award for Eminent Scholars

Established in 2024 by Jacob “Jake” A. Lutz III '78, the Jacob A. Lutz III Award for Eminent Scholars recognizes long-term, substantive contributions to research and creative scholarship that demonstrate sustained impact over a faculty member’s career.

The award is Virginia Tech’s first named university-level research award, designed to recognize and elevate faculty who have achieved the highest levels of scholarly distinction.

The $1.15 million endowment supports awards for four faculty members annually with $10,000 in unrestricted funds. Awardees are selected from faculty at the ranks of tenured professor and associate professor with at least three years of service at Virginia Tech.

Four scholars are honored for their long-term, substantive contributions to research and creative scholarship in the following categories:

• Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
• Health and Life Sciences
• Science, Engineering, and Technology

Nomination Information

Eligibility

• Tenured faculty in the rank of associate professor or professor.
• Must have three years of service at Virginia Tech at the time of nomination. 
• University Distinguished Professors and Alumni Distinguished Professors are not eligible for this award.
• Alumni Award for Research Excellence winners for the prior five years are not eligible for this award.

Nomination Process and Package

• Nominations must be submitted by a dean or institute director and there is no limit on the number of nominations from each unit.
• There is no requirement, explicit or implied, for disciplinary alignment between colleges or departments and Lutz award category. 
• Tenured faculty from all colleges are eligible to be nominated for all Lutz awards and may be nominated for up to two categories.
• Nomination letters may be written by department heads or other college leadership, but must be endorsed by a dean or institute director. Only one nomination letter may be submitted per nominee, and nominations may not have more than one eligible endorser.

Nomination Package Requirements

Cover Page

• Name and title of the nominee 
• Award category(ies) - an individual may be nominated in up to two categories
• Name and title of nominator
• Signature from Dean (if separate from nominator)
• Name, title, brief description of external references (similar to P&T dossier)
• A description of how scholarly excellence is typically measured or identified in the field

Nomination Letter

• Provides a thorough summary that includes the faculty member’s most important research and creative scholarship contributions
• Articulates the scope and impact of the faculty member's scholarly work
• Describes how the nominee meets the standards of scholarly excellence in their field, providing up to three significant contributions
• Describes why the nominee can accurately be described as "eminent"
• Describes significant evidence of the nominee's scholarly reputation outside of the university
• Written for an audience OUTSIDE the discipline
• May not exceed three pages

In describing the scope of the nominee's scholarly work, the letter may include:

• Importance of the contributions to the field
• Originality of the work
• Execution of the research and/or creative scholarship
• Pattern of the nominee’s research productivity
• Academic reputation of the journals, publishing houses, exhibitions, performances and other creative activities (e.g. film screening, design, etc.), and professional presentations in which the nominee’s work has appeared
• Academic reputation based on how creative scholarship is peer-evaluated and disseminated in the arts including juried or curated selection, competitive commissioning, invited engagements, and the prestige and selectivity of venues, festivals, presenters, labels, and distributors 

Curriculum Vitae

• Focus on research, scholarship, innovation, and creative achievement

External References

• Two letters from external references
• References may include collaborators, typically from national or international experts in the field (academic, industrial, federal agency, professional association, etc.) attesting to the nominee’s contributions and the impact of their work

Selection Criteria

Lutz Award winners will be selected on the evidence of national or international reputation for the faculty member’s research, creativity, and innovation; their contributions to their field and advancement of human knowledge and experience; and the sustained, overall excellence of their scholarship.

Example indicators of this excellence include the following, and may differ significantly depending on the field:

• Broadly-accepted indicators of scholarly publication, such as publishing in high-impact journals and high citation numbers or critical reception, repeat productions, touring, or distribution for creative, design, and artistic disciplines
• Invited talks, including plenary and keynote speeches, at significant events
• Publication of books in well-respected publishing houses
• Receipt of prestigious fellowships, awards, or other external recognition
• Presentation of works at prestigious/renowned conferences, museums, festivals,  or exhibitions/performance venues
• Consistent supervision and training of exceptional graduate and postdoctoral scholars who become independent researchers or creative leaders
• Substantial, prolonged collaboration with leading scholars or creative leaders
• Patents and technology transfer or documented influence on professional practices from a creative and artistic perspective including arts outputs such as licensing and distribution.
• Participation and leadership in government, international, and philanthropic advisory boards and studies

Excellence in outreach, service, teaching, and mentorship, while critical to the role of a land-grant university, are not primary considerations for the Lutz Award.

Review the university's full suite of research awards, including the Early Career Scholarly Impact Award, the Frontier Award, and the Engaged Research Award, to ensure that the Lutz Award is the best fit for the nominee.

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