To: All Faculty <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Andreas Cangellaris, Chair, Honorary Degrees" <cangella@illinois.edu>
Reply-To: damrau@illinois.edu

 Subject: MASSMAIL - Request for Nominations for Honorary Degrees

DATE:    September 10, 2010
TO:      Urbana-Champaign Faculty
FROM:    Andreas Cangellaris, Chair, Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees
RE:      Request for Nominations for Honorary Degrees
 
The Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees is pleased to invite nominations 
for the May 2012 honorary degree awards.  Nomination procedures are 
detailed below.  You are urged to nominate, through your unit (department, 
school, college, etc.), outstanding candidates for Honorary Degree 
awards.  
 
The committee requests that nominations and supporting materials for the 
May 2012 commencement be submitted by October 15. Please note that in 
order to maintain absolute confidentiality, under no circumstances is any 
potential candidate to be contacted even to obtain lists of references 
and/or vitae.  Please use only non-University of Illinois persons for 
references.  Only the President and/or Chancellor may contact candidates.
 
The Committee appreciates your help in identifying outstanding individuals 
whom the University can honor and, in so doing, honor itself.  If you have 
any questions or need additional information, please contact the Senate 
Office (333-6805).  For your convenience, a nomination form is at 
(http://www.senate.illinois.edu/hd_form.pdf). 
 
REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR HONORARY DEGREES
 
The prime, controlling consideration should be distinction.  The person 
should have made a distinguished contribution to knowledge and creativity 
in the relevant field of endeavor, and have shown sustained activity of 
uncommon merit.  The contributions may be made in a wide range of 
activities; the following list is not exhaustive:
 
- Scholarship, in any discipline:  major breakthroughs in knowledge in 
fields of scholarly work.
- Creative Arts, in the broad sense of the term:  literature, music, 
architecture, engineering, et al; the development of new frontiers of 
creativity.
- Professions:  distinguished contributions, innovative work of 
distinction.
- Public Service:  outstanding achievement in statesmanship, 
administration, legislative activity, the judiciary, or in non-
governmental civic activities.
- Business, Industry and Labor:  outstanding, innovative activity in the 
business and/or labor community.
 
Following Senate guidelines (www.senate.illinois.edu/criteria.asp), the 
Committee will consider, but not be bound by, the degree to which the 
candidate has had some association with Illinois - the University or the 
State.  While alumni of the University should not be excluded, honorary 
degrees are not a means of recognizing their contributions; other awards 
exist for this purpose.  Current administrators, faculty, or staff of the 
University ordinarily are not eligible; while emeriti are eligible even if 
engaged in teaching or research at the University.  Elected officials of 
the State of Illinois and its subordinate units and members of the 
Legislature, during their terms of office, ordinarily are not eligible.
 
Senate guidelines emphasize recommendations by departments and other 
academic units.  A nomination coming to the Committee from a member of the 
Board of Trustees, an alumnus/alumna or friend of the University, will be 
referred to the proper academic unit for support of the faculty.
 
For full consideration by the Committee, the nominator or nominating unit 
should supply the following information to the Committee by October 15:
 
1.     A brief letter of nomination, summarizing the candidate's 
qualifications for this honor, and certifying the support of the 
appropriate academic unit.
 
2.     A brief curriculum vitae of the nominee, including addresses, 
telephone numbers, or other means by which the nominee can be reached.  If 
the nomination finds substantial initial support in the Honorary Degrees 
Committee, additional information may be requested from the department to 
develop the case and to provide the Senate with the materials it needs for 
the final decision.
 
3.     The names and addresses of at least four professionally-
distinguished individuals who could be contacted for letters of support or 
further information about the candidate.  It is hoped that oral 
communications among professional colleagues will help assure the 
confidentiality of the decision process.
 
Nominations and full dossiers should be marked confidential and sent to 
the Committee on Honorary Degrees, c/o Senate Office, 228 English 
Building, MC-461 (familler@illinois.edu).
This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Chancellor

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