The University and Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts bestows annual awards recognizing faculty member's teaching and advising, research, scholarship, and creative work in addition to recognizing outstanding service by our faculty and staff.
President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award
The President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award was established in 1993 to encourage and recognize excellence in teaching at Loyola Marymount University. These faculty members, nominated by their peers, are recognized as successfully uniting a distinguished record of teaching and an outstanding contribution to research.
2023 President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Awardee: Máire Ford, Professor of Psychological Science
The Rains Award for Excellence in Service Award
The Rains Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works is named after Mrs. Liliore G. Rains, who was a major benefactor to Loyola Marymount University. One award will be given each academic to a tenured professor. The purpose of the award is to recognize a tenured member of the Loyola Marymount University faculty whose scholarship or creative activity exemplifies LMU’s mission in a manner that is both outstanding and meaningful.
2023 Rains for Excellence in Service Awardee: Dorothea Herreiner, Associate Professor of Economics
Term Faculty Distinguished Teaching Awards:
Roy Fisher, Senior Instructor of Theological Studies
LMU Ascending Scholar Awards:
Tyler Harlan, Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies
Gabriele Magni, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Sylvia Zamora, Associate Professor of Sociology
Daum Professorship Award
Created from a legacy received from Harry M. Daum, Class of 1938, the Daum Professorship is given annually to a tenured professor in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts with full rank who has exhibited a record of excellence in teaching and advising, scholarship or creative work, and service and leadership in their department, college, and university. Nominees must demonstrate consistent excellence in all areas of faculty responsibility commensurate with rank.
2023-2024 Daum Professorship Awardee: Amir Hussain, Chair and Professor of Theological Studies
Amir Hussain has published eight books and over 80 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. His specialty is the study of Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies in North America. He has shared his knowledge through lectures at prestigious institutions worldwide and has made notable appearances on television programs, such as Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and The Tavis Smiley Show. In addition, Professor Hussain served as a consultant for The Story of God with Morgan Freeman and frequently appears on Ancient Aliens and The UnXplained with William Shatner. Professor Hussain holds the position of senior editor for religion at Oxford Handbooks Online, where he plays a pivotal role in shaping the discourse of world religion. He has also authored “Muslims and the Making of America”, a noteworthy publication by Baylor University Press in 2016. From 2011 to 2015, Amir was the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the premier scholarly journal for the study of religion, and is the current President of AAR.
Daum Mid-Career Faculty Research Award
Created from a legacy received from Harry M. Daum, Class of 1938, the Daum Mid-Career Faculty Research Award was inaugurated in 2017 to be given annually to a tenured associate professor in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts who has exhibited a record of excellence in teaching and advising, scholarship and/or creative work, and service to the department, college and university. Nominees should demonstrate consistent excellence in all areas of faculty responsibility commensurate with rank.
2023-2024 Daum Mid-Career Faculty Research Awardee: Andrew Dilts, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations.
Andrew Dilts is Associate Professor of Political Science, and his teaching is motivated by the principles of humanistic education that aim at transformation and liberation—his goal is to make his classroom a place that students work together to think carefully and sympathetically about texts and ideas to better understand and change our current conditions. His service is likewise driven by an ethical commitment to democracy and justice, serving students and faculty directly--most recently as Associate Director for the University Honors Program, and in faculty led governance, serving on the Faculty Senate, part-time faculty task force, and through LMU’s AAUP chapter. He coauthored, along with Elizabeth Drummond, the Faculty Senate’s 2012 white paper on the “teacher-scholar model at LMU.” Internationally recognized in the fields of political theory and critical carceral studies, Prof. Dilts’ extensive publication record focuses on how punitive forms of governance shape and are shaped by the politics of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. His 2014 monograph, Punishment and Inclusion, Race, Membership, and the Limits of American Liberalism was well very well received. Andrew has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in scholarly journals and books, and coedited multiple special issues of journals. He is cofounder of a publication that bridges academic and activist practice, Abolition Journal: A journal of Insurgent Politics, and is the incoming principal editor of The Carceral Notebooks.
John R. Popiden Distinguished Service Award
The Popiden Distinguished Faculty Service Award was created in memory of Associate Dean and Professor of Theological Studies John Popiden. This award honors a tenured BCLA faculty member who has given outstanding service to the college, university, profession, and the community. Many of our faculty are lauded for their academic scholarship, but too rarely are they recognized for their service efforts which yield numerous positive effects and a stronger campus and community.
2023 John R. Popiden Distinguished Service Awardee: Brian Treanor, Charles S. Casassa Chair and Professor of Philosophy
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award
The Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, presented by the Student Engagement and Success Committee, recognizes faculty members who have positively impacted students through academic advising.
2023 Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Faculty Advisor Awardees:
Michelle Bitting, English
Prachi Jain, Economics
Tyler Harlan, Urban & Environmental Studies
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Staff Award
This award has been given annually to recognize a staff member with a well-deserved reputation for sustained excellence and initiative in providing administrative or technical support and service. The recipient consistently approaches responsibilities in ways that demonstrate professionalism, timely follow-through and a dedication to the welfare of faculty, students and staff.
2023 Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Staff Awardees:
Sandy Menotti, Economics
Dean Messinger, History & Women's and Gender Studies