Alumni & Friends
Campaign
Magazine
Give
Mobile Icon for Homepage
Alumni & Friends
Campaign
Iowa Magazine
Give to Iowa
Home Distinguished Alumni Awards Distinguished Alumni Awards Nomination Information

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS NOMINATION INFORMATION

Recognizing Our Alumni Successes

The University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee—which includes members of our Alumni Leadership Council—aims to recognize a broad range of qualified candidates who embody the university’s core values by honoring them with Distinguished Alumni Awards. The committee selects an annual recipient in each of the following categories:

  • The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recognizes graduates or former students who demonstrate significant accomplishments in their business or professional lives as well as distinguished service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Alumni Service Award recognizes graduates or former students who demonstrate specific and meritorious service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Alumni Hickerson Recognition Award recognizes graduates or former students for outstanding contributions to their alma mater. This award is named in honor of the late Loren Hickerson (40BA), the university’s first full-time alumni director and an ardent UI champion.
  • The Distinguished Recent Graduate Award recognizes graduates or former students, age 40 or younger at their time of nomination, for significant accomplishments in their business or professional lives as well as for distinguished service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Friend of the University Award recognizes individuals who are not alumni for specific and meritorious service that enhances and advances the university.
  • The Distinguished Faculty Award recognizes retired or former faculty for significant achievements and for specific meritorious service that enhances and advances the university. Nominees need not be alumni.
  • The Distinguished “Forevermore” Staff Award recognizes retired or former staff for significant achievements and for specific meritorious service that enhances and advances the university. Nominees need not be alumni.

NOMINATION FORMAT

Graduates, former students, faculty, staff, and friends of the University of Iowa may make nominations (the Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee reserves the right to reassign nomination categories, if deemed applicable). Nominators should submit the following:

  • Cover letter that states the nomination category, endorses the candidate’s qualifications, and highlights how the nominee embodies the UI's core values
  • Nominee's vita or professional résumé, including a current address
  • Three or more letters of recommendation from other individuals who support the nomination
  • Any additional information that would further substantiate the nomination

EXCLUSION FROM ELIGIBILITY

Current members of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement’s board of directors and staff, members of the Alumni Leadership Council, and current full‑time university faculty and staff are not eligible to receive these awards. Individuals currently in a position of elected or appointed office or known to be launching a campaign are also not eligible to receive these awards. All nominees must be living at the time of nomination and cannot have received a University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award in the same category in the past. Nominations by active Awards Committee members will not be reviewed until the member’s term has concluded on the committee. The Awards Committee reserves the right to consider and approve exceptions to the exclusions from eligibility.

AWARDS TIMELINE

Nominations for the 2025 awards will open in May 2024 and close on January 31, 2025. The Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee will meet in April 2025 to review all nominations and make the annual selections. Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented at a special ceremony on the Friday before the University of Iowa's Homecoming (October 2025).

MAIL NOMINATIONS TO:

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement
Distinguished Alumni Awards
One West Park Road
Iowa City, Iowa 52244

For more information, email Nici Bontrager or call 319-467-3607.

Join an Alumni Network
Make a Gift
Join our Email List
Iowa Magazine
Explore the latest stories from Iowa Magazine.
Related Content
Hawkeye Gymnast Adeline Kenlin Finds Balance in Quest for NCAA Title

The junior discovers a renewed passion for the sport at Iowa after dealing with burnout at the elite level.

From the Vikings to Vodka: Life After the NFL for Chad Greenway

When former Hawkeye great Chad Greenway retired from the NFL in 2017, his focus was on being a parent. Then a former Iowa teammate connected him with a new business venture in the Twin Cities. Chad Greenway When Chad Greenway (05BA) announced his retirement from the NFL in 2017, he wasn't sure what was next. He had just finished a successful 11-year career with the Minnesota Vikings, where he earned two Pro Bowl selections and helped the Vikings to three NFC North titles. "We had just had our fourth kid," says Greenway. "I just really wanted to focus on being a dad." But when former Hawkeye football teammate Sean Considine (04BBA) connected Greenway with a group of investors in the Twin Cities who were starting a vodka company, it proved to be too good to pass up. "The brand's concept was Gray Duck because of Minnesota's fondness for the kids game Duck, Duck, Gray Duck?rather than Duck, Duck, Goose," says Greenway. "It's a very Minnesota-specific thing; my kids play it. The concept around the company really was unique, but what appealed to me was that they wanted to be community based and give back. While it's a for-profit business, they also wanted to do things the right way. That was really important to me?with the work I've done in the community." That's why Greenway decided to join the ownership group of Gray Duck in 2018, where he handles marketing, public relations, and community events. He's proud to be the public face of a company that keeps everything local?whether it's buying its corn from a co-op in west central Minnesota or raising money for organizations such as the Masonic Children's Hospital at the University of Minnesota or Toys for Tots. Gray Duck has grown immensely since its inception, doubling sales last year and launching a new seltzer line. Through it all, Greenway has used his experiences?whether it be on the farm in South Dakota, at the University of Iowa, or with the Minnesota Vikings?to learn and grow. "What I lean most into from my life is forming relationships and relationship building," says Greenway. "And that's been important in the business world?building relationships with your vendors, partners, or the people you meet when you're signing a bottle." It's also been important for Greenway and his wife, Jennifer Capista Greenway (05BBA), a former UI women's track star, to give back. The couple started Chad Greenway's Lead the Way Foundation in 2008, which provides daily support and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children throughout the Midwest. In 2018, through the foundation's Chad's Locker program, they donated a mobile entertainment cabinet packed with iPads, laptops, movies, and video games intended to lift the spirits of patients and their families at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital. The Greenways have also given back to Hawkeye athletics through the Greenway Family Athletics Excellence Fund, which provides yearly support to a Hawkeye athletic program or initiative of their choosing. For Greenway, his time at Iowa was incredibly successful?two All-American and first-team All-Big Ten honors and two co-Big Ten Conference titles?and he's proud to help other Hawkeyes find success. "I met so many people at Iowa who grew up differently than me and had different opinions and viewpoints," says Greenway. "It was a great place to learn and grow. I'm proud to be part of the Iowa program forever, and the memories I made are those I'll never forget."

Faculty Staff Giving

The ways for facultry and staff can give back

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Statement unless you have disabled them in your browser.

Close

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Careers
Update Your Information
Contact Us
Privacy Statement
© The University of Iowa Center for Advancement

NOTICE: The University of Iowa Center for Advancement is an operational name for the State University of Iowa Foundation, an independent, Iowa nonprofit corporation organized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, publicly supported charitable entity that works to advance the University of Iowa. Please review its full disclosure statement.

A Gallup world-class workplace for employee engagement.