Nominations 2027

Nominations will soon be open for the AY 2026-2027 Service Awards! Please think about faculty members who might deserve this recognition! Nominations forms for the Sheila Black Grubman Outstanding Faculty Service Award and the Fritz Wenisch Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Faculty Senate will be available here soon.

Annual Awards

The 2026 Service Award Winners were announced at the May 7, 2026 Faculty Senate meeting. Congratulations to Douglass Reed, winner of the Sheila Black Grubman Award, and to Furong Xu, winner of the Fritz Wenisch Award! Please join us in showing the gratitude of the URI community for their dedication, commitment, and service!

Professor Furong Xu’s record of service to the Curriculum and Academic Standards Committee (CASC) has been outstanding. Colleagues and fellow senators noted her skills in orchestrating a challenging committee workload, bringing disparate faculty members and departments together, providing steady leadership, and ensuring CASC was able to successfully navigate a record number of proposals in Academic Year 2025-26. CASC has been a remarkably productive committee this year, due in large part to Professor Xu’s smooth and skillful handling of ensuring the curriculum approval process operated in a timely and well-organized fashion. Additionally, faculty senators noted Furong’s steadfast collegiality, even-handedness, good humor, and grace. We congratulate Professor Furong Xu on winning the 2026 Fritz Wenisch Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Faculty Senate.

Professor Douglass Reed is the 2026 recipient of The Sheila Black Grubman Faculty Outstanding Service Award. This award recognizes a URI faculty member who has consistently dedicated their time, thought, and energy to make important contributions through service in the Faculty Senate, on committees, task forces, working groups, or other activities that promote the interests of the University and the URI community as a whole. As a Senator, Professor Reed was for many years a member of the Teaching, Advising, and Admissions Committee and was at the center of a major reimagining of academic advising. Many of the committee’s key recommendations are currently being implemented. More recently, Professor Reed has served for three semesters as the Administrator Evaluation Coordinator, adopting a mode of calm industriousness and a goal-oriented approach to this important work. Colleagues admire Professor Reed’s collegiality, work ethic, and practicality and we congratulate him this achievement!

Since the Faculty Senate’s establishment in 1960 as the agent of the general faculty, elected Senators have served the Institution in matters of teaching, research, curriculum, academic standards and calendars, faculty status, and other systems as they affect the faculty as a whole. Senators value the opportunity to influence the practices and policies through shared governance with the President, University Leadership, and the Board of Trustees. They serve on standing, joint, and special committees as well as attend and participate fully in monthly Senate meetings. Faculty voices are essential to the success of an institution and necessary for academic freedom to flourish. Recognition of exemplary service to URI’s Faculty Senate through active and effective participation in the work of the Senate is made through resolutions, and annual and special awards. 

The Sheila Black Grubman Award is an annual award established in 2011 and is awarded jointly by the Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost to a faculty member who has made important contributions to and dedicated significant time and energy to the Senate.

The Fritz Wenisch Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Faculty Senate established in 2019 is awarded by the Faculty Senate annually to a Senator who demonstrates outstanding service.