L&S Faculty Awards

Background image: Sather Gate with cherry blossoms in foreground with the Campanile peeking out in the distance
Image credit:
Keegan Houser

The L&S Faculty Award recognizes and celebrates outstanding L&S faculty members for their exceptional scholarship, service to the College and community, and transformational teaching.

The extraordinary recipients not only embody the excellence of the College of Letters & Science, but they also serve as an inspiration to the entire campus community. An annual awards ceremony to celebrate the recipients is held each spring. 

2025 L&S Faculty Award Recipients

David Blackwell Award

Headshot of Christian Paiz; person wearing glasses with dark hair

Christian Paiz

Associate Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies


Headshot of Solmaz Sharif; person with shoulder length dark hair, wearing a white blouse

Solmaz Sharif

Shirley Shenker Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of English


Headshot of Jose Vazquez-Medina; person with dark hair and beard, wearing a dark polo-shirt

José Vásquez-Medina

Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology


Beatriz Manz Award

Headshot of William Boos; man wearing glasses and blue shirt, standing outside

William Boos

Associate Professor in the Department of Earth & Planetary Science


Headshot of James Olzmann, person with dark hair wearing a light blue collared shirt

James Olzmann

Doris Howes Calloway Chair and Professor in the Departments of Molecular & Cell Biology and Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology


Headshot of Kim Shelton, person with sunglasses perched on top of their head looking up from a site surrounding by stones

Kim Shelton

Professor in the Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies


Jessica Blanche Peixotto Award

Headshot of Chung-Pei Ma

Chung-Pei Ma

Judy Chandler Webb Professor in Physical Sciences and Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics

Past L&S Faculty Award Winners

Group of faculty awardees and deans standing outside; awardees holding their awards

2024 L&S Faculty Awards

David Blackwell Award

Hernan Garcia, Associate Professor in the Departments of Molecular & Cell Biology and Physics

Courtney Dressing, Associate Professor in the Department of Astronomy

Beatriz Manz Award

James Analytis, Professor and Charles Kittel Chair in the Department of Physics

Leo Arriola, Professor in the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science and Associate Dean, Social Sciences Division

Jessica Blanche Peixoto Award

Joe Goode, Professor of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies and Artistic Director of Joe Goode Performance Group

Group shot of L&S Faculty Award winners 2023

2023 L&S Faculty Awards

David Blackwell Award

Jovan Scott Lewis, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography

Michael Zaletel, Associate Professor and Thomas and Alison Schneider Chair in the Department of Physics

Beatriz Manz Award

SanSan Kwan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American Studies and Director of the Black Studies Collaboratory

Jessica Blanche Peixoto Award

Iswar Hariharan, Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology and Co-Chair of the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology

About the L&S Faculty Awards

L&S Faculty Award Categories

David Blackwell Award

Image of David Blackwell teaching in front of a chalkboard

The David Blackwell Award is awarded to faculty recently promoted to tenure.

David Blackwell (1919-2010), Professor of Statistics, was the first African American tenured professor at UC Berkeley. In 1965, he became the first African American scholar to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Blackwell has an incredible history full of accolades, including the Berkeley Citation, the highest honor bestowed by UC Berkeley. A remarkable teacher and mentor, he had a residence hall named after him by Chancellor Christ in 2018. 

Beatriz Manz Award

Headshot of Professor Beatriz Manz

The Beatriz Manz Award is awarded to faculty recently promoted to full professor.

Beatriz Manz was the first Latina full professor at Berkeley. She directed the Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies and also chaired the Department of Ethnic Studies. Her research as an anthropologist has been focused on human rights and justice, particularly among the Mayans in Guatemala. The Committee chose Professor Manz for an award namesake honor because of her exemplary balance of scholarship, teaching, service, and work for the common good.

Jessica Blanche Peixotto Award

Image of Jessica Blanche Peixotto

The Jessica Blanche Peixotto Award is awarded to faculty recently promoted to professor above scale.

Jessica Blanche Peixotto (1864-1941) was the first woman to become a full professor, the first woman to Chair a department at UC Berkeley, and the second woman to earn a Ph.D. from Berkeley. Her work was in social economics, including a comparison of wages and spending in the US and France. She was also active in public service and served on the Council of National Defense during World War I.

Eligibility, Selection Criteria & Nomination Process

Eligibility

L&S faculty may be considered for this award 1-2 years after their last major promotion (assistant to associate; associate to full; full to above-scale).

Selection Criteria

Recipients of L&S Faculty Awards are recognized for:

  • Inspiring scholarship
  • Service above and beyond themselves
  • Leadership
  • Being a changemaker in their field(s)
  • Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice
  • Student mentorship

Nomination Process

The Faculty Awards Working Group, a sub-committee of the L&S Advisory Board, accepts nominations from divisional deans each fall, which are reviewed in January and February. The materials that inform the Working Group include excerpts from the promotion dossier as well as a recommendation letter from the divisional dean.