Nominations open: Moruzzi Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education

The Educational Development Council (EDC) is soliciting nominations for the 2024 Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education. Romeo was a dedicated professor of Electrical Engineering and a founder of the WPI Plan. This award in his memory has been presented annually since 1999 to recognize early career faculty members who have made specific innovations or improvements to undergraduate education at WPI that have resulted in benefits such as enhanced motivation, conceptual understanding, reinforcement of knowledge, or real-world applications of theory. Prior recipients from the last five years are showcased on the Awards webpage.

Again this year and with the support of the Moruzzi family and other donors, TWO award recipients may be selected, across dual-mission and teaching-mission faculty whether on or off the tenure track. In order to be eligible for the award, an early career faculty member must meet both of the following requirements at the time of nomination:

1. Appointed at WPI in a full-time position for less than six full years (with allowances made for parental leaves)
2. Hold the title of Assistant Professor, Assistant Teaching Professor or Assistant Research Professor, Instructor/Lecturer, Professor of Practice, or Assistant Professor of Teaching. (Those under consideration for tenure, promotion, or reappointment this year are still eligible.)

Any member of the WPI community of faculty, staff, and students may submit nominations, and self-nominations are welcome. Nominees will be asked to submit two pages of supporting documentation and up to three letters of support by January 12, 2024. Each award will be $3,500 in professional development funds, and the winner(s) will be announced at the Faculty Awards Convocation in April 2024.

In order to allow nominees sufficient time to solicit letters of support, the target date for nominations is December 8, using our online form. Nominating someone is really easy! A nomination is simply a sentence or two describing the specific innovation, initiative, or improvement made by the nominee. Details about the remainder of the process will be sent to nominees and can also be found at the bottom of the Awards webpage.

Please contact morgan-center@wpi.edu if you have questions.