George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research

Supporting the Profession Faculty
Award Type: national

Named in 2011 for the Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus at Indiana University and founding director of the IU Center for Postsecondary Research, the National Survey of Student Engagement, and the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, this award honors an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to research and scholarship related to higher education.  Throughout their career, the honoree’s work should address important and substantial issues, and have had a significant or transformative effect on higher education and student affairs practice in a national or international context.

Nominations have closed for the 2027 George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research. The application for 2028 will open at the end of July 2027.

NOMINATE

Award Criteria

  • Exceptional contributions to student affairs through sustained research and scholarship. Evaluated by frequency of publication (journal article, book chapter, online article, etc.).

  • Issues addressed in research and scholarship have to be important and substantial issues. Evaluated by significance of issues within higher education.

  • Impact of research must have implications for higher education at the national or international level. Evaluated by utilization of research in presentations, policy, industry practice, and/or graduate-level programs.

  • Engagement with NASPA. Evaluated by breadth and depth of engagement across multiple opportunities within NASPA.

Any NASPA member may nominate an individual for this award. Nominations for this award are also solicited from the NASPA Board of Directors.

2026 Current Recipients

2026 | Dr. Elizabeth Allan

George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research

Professor
University of Maine

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Past Recipients

2025 | Jason R. Kilmer, Ph.D

George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research

Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Washington School of Medicine

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2024 | Jillian Kinzie

Associate Director, Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute
Indiana University School of Education

Gavin W. Henning Headshot

2023 | Gavin W. Henning

Professor of Higher Education
New England College

2022 | John Wesley Lowery Headshot

2022 | John Wesley Lowery

George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award

Professor of Student Affairs in Higher Education
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

2021 | Mary Howard-Hamilton

2021 | George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award

Coffman Distinguished Research Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Leadership
Indiana State University

McClellan Headshot

2020 | George S. McClellan

2020 George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award

Associate Professor, Higher Education
University of Mississippi

Patton Davis Headshot

2020 | Lori Patton Davis

2020 George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award

Chair, Department of Educational Studies and Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs
The Ohio State University

2018 | Marcia Baxter Magolda

Professor Emeritus
Miami University (Ohio)

2017 | Vincent Tinto

Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Syracuse University

2017 | Annemarie Vaccaro

Associate Professor
University of Rhode Island

2016 | David A. Longanecker

President
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

2015 | Elizabeth Whitt

Vice Provost and Dean
University of California - Merced

2014 | Samuel Museus

Associate Professor of Higher Education
University of Denver

2013 | Marilee J. Bresciani 
2012 | Jane Fried 
2011 | Gregory S. Blimling
2010 | Jon Dalton 
2010 | Shaun Harper 
2009 | Vasti Torres
2007 | Kathleen Manning
2006 | Susan R. Komives 
2005 | Gary M. Pavela
2004 | Melvin C. Terrell 
2003 | Roger B. Winston
2001 | Marylu McEwen
2000 | Arthur C. Sandeen
1999 | Ernie Suggs

1998 | Don Hossler 
1997 | Barbara E. Bender
1996 | M. Lee Upcraft 
1995 | Patrick T. Terenzini
1994 | Arthur E. Levine 
1993 | C. Robert Pace
1992 | John H. Schuh
1991 | Jacqueline Fleming 
1990 | Ursula Delworth 
1989 | Nancy K. Schlossberg
1988 | Ernest T. Pascarella
1987 | George D. Kuh 
1986 | Margaret J. Barr
1985 | Donald D. Gehring

 1985 | Parker Young 
1984 | John M. Whiteley 
1983 | C. Gilbert Wrenn 
1982 | Jossey-Bas Publishers 
1981 | Howard R. Bowen 
1980 | Burns B. Crookston* 
1978 | Kate Hevner Mueller 
1977 | Change Magazine 
1977 | Ruth Strang* 
1976 | Alexander and Helen Astin 
1975 | Theodore M. Newcomb 
1975 | R. Nevitt Sanford 
1972 | K. Patricia Cross 
1968 | E.G. Williamson