Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award
The Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award recognizes a WWU faculty member* who has made outstanding and impactful efforts that have enriched the intellectual vitality of the campus and/or the broader community. This work may include service to the University, to service-learning programs, to outreach programs to the local and broader community, and service to the profession.
*Please Note: Only Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, or Professors are eligible for this award. (Instructors, Lecturers, Senior Instructors are not eligible. Please check the staff directory for faculty titles.)
Nominations for the 2026 Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award are currently OPEN. Please fill out the online Faculty Award Nomination Form to submit a nomination by the January 23, 2026 deadline.
Selection Criteria
Only Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, or Professors are eligible for this award. (Instructors, Lecturers, Senior Instructors are not eligible, please check the title of your nominee before submitting.)
Faculty member whose leadership skills have enriched the intellectual vitality of the campus and/or the broader community.
Nominees will be asked to provide the following materials in order to be considered for this award:
- A cover letter describing your leadership activities (maximum 3 pages).
- A current vita.
- Materials related to outstanding leadership contributions while at Western.
- The candidate will solicit up to five letters of support. The letters should register the impact of the candidate’s leadership activities.
Award/Recognition
Award Administration
Nomination Process
2025
Grace Wang - Urban & Environmental Planning & Policy
Grace Wang is a professor in the Department of Urban & Environmental Planning & Policy and director of Western’s Sustainability Engagement Institute. She has demonstrated transformative leadership in bringing sustainability to the forefront of curricular initiatives on campus, such as the Sustainability Fellows, which trains faculty members across the university to infuse sustainability into their courses.
At the Sustainability Engagement Institute, Grace and her colleagues are devoted to the institute’s mission to develop educational opportunities and systems-change for a more sustainable, just future. Grace was instrumental in creating the Sustainability Studies minor and supported the development of the certificate in Climate Leadership. On the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, she co-led the development of a new degree program in Natural Resource Management. And on the Bellingham campus her work helped ensure WWU’s Sustainability Action Plan is a cornerstone of the university’s commitments to sustainability and equity. Outside of Western, Grace is a key partner in regional collaborations to advance sustainability in higher education. She is a dedicated, inspiring leader and mentor to students and faculty colleagues alike.
Past Awardees
1 awardee(s) for this year
2024 Awardees
Theresa Warburton - English
Associate Professor of English Theresa Warburton is an educator, scholar, and community member. She is interested in the role that stories play in social movements. At Western, she teaches courses across a variety of topics related to US multiethnic literatures and social movements which often focus on Native literatures, prison abolition, and gender studies. She has also served in a number of supportive capacities, including most recently as the president of the United Faculty of Western Washington.
Beyond Western, she works closely with the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center and its Transformative Justice Learning Lab while also serving on the board of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and the editorial collective of the social movement journal Perspectives on Anarchist Theory. She’s written and edited books and articles in the interest of helping foster conversations around the stories we tell and why.
You’re most likely to find her in a bookstore, at a women’s basketball game, baking vegan treats, or walking around Lake Padden. Above all, she supports the efforts of people working to honor just visions of how we live together, especially students who continue to demand that their institutions live up to the values they claim.