The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professorship is the highest honor awarded to a faculty member by their colleagues at Florida State University. Each year, one Lawton Professor is selected by a faculty committee comprised of our previous recipients of this honor and three faculty-at-large, the latter appointed by the President from six nominees of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee. It is a defining characteristic of the Lawton award that the selection is made from nominations by individual members of the faculty, not by departments, schools or colleges, or other administrative units. These nominations are sent directly to the Committee, which considers them and makes its recommendation to the President, who appoints the Distinguished Professor. The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor is chosen from the ranks of those teaching at Florida State University. To be eligible, a faculty member must be a tenured professor, have been a faculty member at the University for at least 14 years and, above all, have achieved true distinction in his/her discipline or profession. All members of the faculty who meet these criteria are eligible for this honor.
The selection committee will make its recommendations to the President on the basis of research or creative endeavors, teaching and service of the faculty members during their careers at Florida State University. Although scholarly distinction is the primary qualification, a strong record in teaching (including the directing of graduate research) and service to the University and the academic community at large should also be clearly documented.
The title of Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor is conferred for a given year, and is permanently retained along with the date of the award, which will be indicated in the catalog listing of the faculty. Members of the faculty are eagerly encouraged to submit nominations to the Robert Lawton Distinguished Professor Committee.
NOMINATION: A submission prepared by the nominator, should contain a nominating letter, a comprehensive curriculum vita for the nominee, along with any additional evidence of outstanding scholarship. The nomination package should also include a 1–2-page summary of service contributions and a 1–2 page summary of teaching contributions to Florida State University and to his/her profession. The nomination package should include at least 2 but no more than 4 seconding letters of recommendation from individuals within the University, and at least 3 but no more than 5 letters from colleagues outside this university. A brief one-page professional identification should be provided for each author of an outside letter.
Frequently there are deserving nominees not chosen for the Lawton Award in a given year; these are carried forward for consideration in the following years. Thus, nominators should be prepared to update their nomination and the candidate's folder each year he or she is not selected. Nominations and updated materials should be submitted in PDF form via a link provided by Genevieve Scott. The deadline is February 25, 2022.