Faculty Service Award

This award is given to a Clark School faculty member whose service to their department, to the Clark School, and to the university has been judged outstanding.

Nomination Form
Wesley Lawson stands next to Sennur Ulukus in front of a Maryland Engineering backdrop holding his award plague

2024 award winner Wesley Lawson with Sennur Ulukus at the 2024 Faculty & Staff Recognition Celebration. Photo by Greg Fiume.

The annual Service Award for an outstanding tenure track or professional track faculty member in the Clark School of Engineering will be presented at the winter commencement exercises. The faculty member receiving the service award will be presented with a plaque and a cash award. Nominations from students, faculty, and staff are hereby solicited.

Factors such as the following will be weighed in determining the award winner:

  • Esprit de corps
  • Innovation in courses or curricula
  • Effective service on committees, from departmental to international
  • Advising students or student groups
  • Outreach efforts to the campus and community
  • Recruitment activities, participating in open houses, alumni activities
  • Enhancing the University or School image
  • Efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the Clark School
  1. A nomination letter explaining how the candidate meets some of the above criteria, or similar.
  2. A maximum of 4 letters of support from any combination of the following.

a. Nominee’s supervisor
b. Person supervised by the nominee
c. Nominee’s peer
d. Faculty, staff, or student who has had personal experience with the the
nominee’s service activities

Note that previous nominations will be considered again for up to two additional years, and nominators have the option to withdraw or update the package. Prior recipients are not eligible to be nominated again. 

Submit a Nomination

Meet Our 2024 Recipient: Wesley Lawson

Wesley Lawson is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where he has served with utmost dedication in various capacities impacting curriculum innovation, student advising, and outreach activities.  He was the Associate Director for Education in the Institute for Research in Applied Physics, and also served as the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education in the ECE Department, where he helped  to launch a Women in Engineering ECE Chapter for UMD and participated in multiple  recruitment  activities  each  year.  He also  developed  and  taught  multiple  times  a  one-day  summer  course  for  high-school female students where they got a hands-on introduction to electronics by building and testing a magnetic sensor device that has possible medical applications. Currently, he is in his second year as the Engineering Honors Program Director for the Clark School and has undertaken initiatives to expand the visibility of the program and increase enrollment. At the university level, he has been a member of the Campus Senate, the Living Learning Oversight Committee, and the STEM Elementary Education Faculty Fellows Group. At the state level, he served as one of the three co-chairs tasked by MHEC to develop two-year “transfer” associate degrees in electric engineering and computer engineering to help smooth the transition from community colleges to state four-year institutions in those disciplines.

Wesley Lawson, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Past Recipients


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