Faculty Awards & Recognitions

Distinguished Faculty Award for Phase I Teaching 
This award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching in a Phase I course by engaging students in the subject matter, embracing active learning techniques, teaching performance in active learning, impacting and supporting students, and using innovative teaching methods. 

Distinguished Faculty Award for Clerkship Teaching 
This award recognizes two faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching within a Clerkship (IM, Surgery, FM, Peds, OB/GYN, Psych, Neuro, ED) by enhancing students’ diagnostic acumen, clinical decision making, focus on social determinants of health, and compassion in care. 

Distinguished Faculty Award for Advanced Clinical Teaching 
This award recognizes two faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching within an elective, critical care or subinternship by enhancing students’ diagnostic acumen, clinical decision making, social determinants of health, and compassion in care. 

Distinguished Faculty Award for Community Engaged Mentoring 
This award recognizes a faculty member at any rank whose mentorship of medical students’ community engaged medical education work, including scholarly capstone projects and community health work, has been outstanding and has led to documented recognition and community impact during their tenure at the SOM. 

Distinguished Faculty Award for Medical Education Scholarship 
This award recognizes a faculty member at any rank who has achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities, innovation and/or research in medical education and who demonstrates a record of continued extraordinary productivity during their tenure at the SOM as evaluated by peers and experts in their field. Significant regional and national recognition in the academic community with evidence of a positive impact of their mentorship and/or teaching on undergraduate medical students.

Distinguished Junior Faculty Award for Basic Research 
This award recognizes two faculty members at the rank of assistant professor who has been in rank at the HMSOM for five or more years and who has achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities and innovation in basic and translational research, demonstrates a record of continuous extraordinary scholarly research productivity during their early tenure at the SOM, and who has begun to achieve a regional or national recognition. 

Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Basic Science Research 
This award recognizes faculty at the rank of associate and/or full professor who has held any HMSOM faculty rank for five or more years and who has achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities and innovation in basic research, demonstrates a record of continuous extraordinary productivity during their tenure at the SOM, has achieved a high level of national and international recognition with evidence of exemplary research/creative accomplishments, and has had an impact on their discipline recognized by peers and experts in their field. 

Distinguished Junior Faculty Award for Clinical Research 
This award recognizes a faculty member at the rank of assistant professor who has been in rank at the HMSOM for five or more years and who has achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities and innovation in basic and translational research, demonstrates a record of continuous extraordinary scholarly research productivity during their early tenure at the SOM, and who has begun to achieve a regional or national recognition. 

Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Clinical Research 
This award recognizes faculty at the rank of associate and/or full professor who has held a HMSOM faculty rank for five or more years and who has achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities and innovation in clinical, quality and/or clinical database research, demonstrating a record of continuous extraordinary productivity during their tenure at the SOM, and performing outstanding research with national and international recognition. 

Distinguished Faculty Award for Mentoring Student Research 
This award recognizes a faculty member at any rank whose mentorship of medical student research in biomedical science and/or medical educational scholarly work, has led to outstanding student accomplishments such as papers, presentations, abstracts, produced during their tenure at the SOM.

Distinguished Faculty Champion of Opportunity For All Award 
This award recognizes a faculty member at any rank whose achievements substantially advances opportunity for all at HMSOM, furthering its education, research, and patient care mission. Documented evidence of the faculty's outstanding efforts in recruiting talented students, residents, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds; fostering a respectful environment for all individuals;supporting all team member development; and actively implementing initiatives to enhance belonging in the working, learning, and patient care environment. Further criteria include exemplary scholarship to advance internal and external stakeholder engagement, address healthcare access challenges, and contribute to the success of campus-based outreach efforts. Finally, this award recognizes exemplary service as a role model, mentor, and sponsor, providing opportunities for growth and leadership to individuals from all backgrounds. 

Distinguished Senior Faculty Mentor Award 
This award recognizes a senior faculty member at the rank of Associate or full Professor who has had an impact on junior faculty members’ academic career growth and development in the areas of education, clinical care and/or research and scholarship. 

Distinguished Faculty Service Award 
This award recognizes two faculty members who display excellence in administrative or curricular service to either a SOM committee or other major administrative and programmatic contribution, such as academic program development, in which the individual demonstrates leadership and academic commitment, and is courageous, creative, collaborative, and compassionate. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award 
This award honors members of our faculty for a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM). The award recognizes individuals who have made a lasting impact on medical education at HMSOM through service, teaching or research. Such individuals have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to academic medicine through its principals and practice. 

The Dean Bonita Stanton Humanism Faculty Award 
This award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated humanism consistently throughout their work in our institution and in the world. This award is to honor Dr. Stanton, a lighthouse of compassion and generosity, who founded our school on the basis that doctors need their training rooted in service to humankind. Dean Stanton showed it is possible to care for others while maintaining our dignity, our compassion, and our humanity.