The Paul A. Funk Recognition Award is presented to faculty and academic professionals for outstanding achievement and major contributions to the betterment of agriculture, natural resources, and human systems. Funds for the awards program, which was established in June 1970, are provided by the Paul A. Funk Foundation of Bloomington, Illinois, as a memorial to the late Paul A. Funk, who attended the college as a member of the class of 1929 and devoted his life to agriculture.
Each year the college presents Paul A. Funk Recognition Awards to individuals; each award includes a $5,000 unrestricted personal award, $1,000 to the appropriate department or other administrative unit to support the recipient's program, a recurring salary increment of $1,000, and a recognition plaque.
A nominee may be a member of the faculty or any academic professional who holds a full-time appointment with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; has a paid appointment in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences for the current academic year; and has 10 years of consecutive service prior to the nomination. Note that members of the faculty who are full-time administrators are not eligible for the award. Individuals on sabbatical leave, disability leave, or leave without pay are not eligible during leave; however, these leaves are not considered interruptions of service time for subsequent years. The unit head must verify the nominee's eligibility. If an issue arises concerning eligibility, the College Executive Committee will decide the issue. A person may receive a Paul A. Funk Recognition Award only once, and thereafter is ineligible to win any college award other than the Spitze Land-Grant Professorial Career Excellence Award and the Team Award.
Nominations are submitted to the secretary of the Executive Committee using the online form. If the nominee is declared eligible by the unit head, the original and seven copies of the supporting materials listed should be submitted.
Supporting materials must be in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins and include the following:
List major contributions (significant extension projects initiated, key research findings, outstanding teaching, etc.) and briefly describe their significance and career contributions. Give an overall evaluation of what the career contributions of the nominee have meant to producers, students, agribusiness, and consumers in Illinois, the nation, and the world. (Eight 8.5" by 11" double-spaced pages maximum.)
Letters should consist of no more than four letters or supporting statements, excluding one from the person or persons making the nomination.
Supporting materials that deviate from these guidelines will be returned to the unit for revision.
The number of awards made annually may vary, but will not be more than five.
Nominees will be evaluated and award recipients selected by a seven-person committee appointed from the college faculty. The chair of the selection committee, in consultation with its members, shall develop guidelines for its operation. The selection committee will consider the nominee's achievement and total performance through excellence in teaching, research, or extension. The selection committee will submit its recommendation for no more than five recipients, plus one alternate, to the dean. After ascertaining that the selection procedures used meet the guidelines established by the Executive Committee, and that the nominations satisfy the qualifications set forth in the original Paul A. Funk Recognition Program agreement, the dean will notify the recipients, the department heads of the recipients, and the secretary of the Executive Committee.
All copies of the supporting materials must be returned to the dean's office by the chair of the selection committee at the completion of the selection process.