About the Professorship

The William David Blunk Memorial Professorship recognizes a member of the faculty who has demonstrated an outstanding record both in undergraduate teaching and in concern for undergraduates as demonstrated through advising and general guidance given to students. Such concern for students should have occurred within the context of excellent scholarship and high standards of performance.

Deadline

Applications are due by Friday, Mar. 13, 2026.

Number of Nominations

One (1) nomination per college

Nominee Qualifications

All faculty are eligible for nomination. No adjustment in faculty workload is made for the Professorship holder during the year of appointment. Professorship holders must be on campus during their appointments.

Candidates will be judged in terms of:

• Demonstrated teaching ability.
• Evidence of special interest and advocacy on behalf of the student experience, including undergraduate and/or graduate thesis advising, student mentorship, student engagement in research, academic advising and other efforts which make the student educational experience more satisfying and meaningful.

Eligible nominees must be in good standing with the university.

Nomination Materials Required

Nomination packets should be saved and submitted using the following format: “Faculty First & Last Name, College/School, year.pdf”. Nomination packets for institutional awards will be limited to 10 pages total (not including the cover page detailed in Section A) for each award and should include the following sections:

Section A: A cover page and evidence of minimal eligibility requirements met (1 page)

• Nominee’s name, job title and EID
• Department and College/School
• Contact Information
• Permission for the award packet to be published on UT Austin award website should the nominee be selected for the award.

Section B: Candidate response to award-specific questions (2 pages)

• In response to the questions below, candidates must include insights and examples of how they have had broader impacts on the campus and their communities (For example, in their discipline, course content, administrative and/or committee work).
• Award-specific questions include:
  • How do you understand and engage in effective student mentorship in and beyond the classroom? Please include supporting evidence and examples that demonstrate your ability to engage students in their field of choice, academic development, and/or enriching educational experiences.

Section C: Supporting Materials (up to eight pages)

• Materials included must demonstrate with data and supporting evidence the faculty’s effectiveness in terms of student learning/development. In this section applicants are welcome to include:
  • Course Instructor Surveys (up to three pages)
    • Candidates will include in the template chart relevant information from the two most recent years.
    • Candidates may include up to two pages of representative student comments from courses in the two most recent years.
  • Brief/condensed CV that includes the following sections (up to two pages):
    • Teaching-related service and research
    • Advising
    • Teaching awards/honors
  • Two letters of support (up to three pages)
    • Letters may be written by any of the following faculty colleagues (no more than one colleague external to UT), department chair, dean, University administrator or student (no more than one student letter).
  • Optional: Candidates may include up to 10 minutes of multimedia, digital, and other forms of content.

See the Faculty Awards FAQ page for more information.

Award Amount

The Professorship is for one academic year, although the terms of establishment provide for the possibility of one or even two renewals for a truly outstanding individual. The Professorship carries with it an $18,500 award.*

*Amount of honorarium varies depending on endowment income