Why Awards and Recognition Matter

At the University of North Texas, faculty, students, staff, and alumni are recognized nationally and internationally as experts and leaders in their fields. They have earned prestigious honors such as Fulbright Scholarships, the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Awards, Guggenheim Fellowships, National Medal of Arts honors, Grammy Awards, Pulitzer Prize nominations, and countless other accolades across disciplines from materials science to music, engineering to visual arts. These recognitions validate the excellence of UNT’s community and demonstrate how our work advances knowledge, enriches culture, and drives innovation.

Distinguished achievements are a hallmark of UNT’s identity as a Research 1 research university, as recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. When members of the UNT community earn external awards and recognition through groundbreaking research, creative performances and exhibitions, public impact projects, or service to their fields, they elevate institutional reputation, inspire pride across campus, strengthen recruitment and retention, and demonstrate UNT’s commitment to creating enduring value for the public good.

Unpacking the Data: Tracking Awards and Recognition

UNT is home to more than 2,000 talented faculty members, and thousands of students, staff, and alumni whose achievements reflect the transformative power of UNT. Faculty who excel in their fields introduce students to new knowledge and insights, providing unique experiences that challenge and enrich students’ UNT educations. Students who engage in high-level research, creative work, and innovation at UNT develop skills that prepare them for leadership in their careers. Alumni who earn recognition in their fields demonstrate the long-term value of their UNT education.

Beyond research accomplishments, UNT also recognizes excellence in creative fields, including performances, exhibitions, and artistic contributions, as well as public impact projects that address community needs and advance the public good. Capturing the full breadth of achievements across all disciplines, from the sciences to the arts, humanities to professional fields, requires developing more robust data systems and tracking mechanisms.

UNT currently highlights notable achievements through announcements, stories, and features. The university is building capacity to systematically track awards and recognitions in new ways that facilitate strategic support, celebration, and benchmarking.

Strategic Priorities to Amplify Awards and Recognition

By cultivating a culture that supports faculty, students, staff, and alumni to excel, UNT enables them to deliver even greater outcomes for our students, our region, and the state. UNT will implement the following key strategies to strengthen recognition of outstanding work across disciplines:

  • Develop comprehensive data systems to track awards and recognitions across faculty, students, staff, and alumni in a structured, systematic way that captures the full range of achievements, from research grants and scholarly publications to creative performances, exhibitions, public impact projects, and professional honors, enabling strategic support and celebration of excellence.
  • Identify and support high-potential scholars, artists, and innovators by creating infrastructure to support faculty, staff, and students in pursuing top-level awards such as the NSF CAREER program, Fulbright Scholarships, Guggenheim Fellowships, national academy memberships, the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, and other prestigious recognitions through coordinated outreach, application workshops, and dedicated coaching.
  • Cultivate a culture of peer mentorship and support in which faculty, staff, and students mentor and encourage each other in pursuing external awards, sharing best practices, reviewing application materials, and celebrating achievements across all disciplines and career stages.
  • Leverage the Teaching Hub and other institutional resources within the newly launched Learning Ecosystem for Empowering Futures to foster community and collaboration, provide practical resources and support, and strategically invest in faculty development that positions them for recognition and success.
  • Amplify recognition to strengthen UNT’s reputation by promoting award winners and their achievements to generate increased awareness among prospective students, faculty, partners, and supporters, leveraging external recognitions to expand UNT’s brand reputation and demonstrate the university’s commitment to excellence across research, creative work, teaching, and service.
 
 

  • Octavio Quintanilla ('10 Ph.D.) is the 2025 Texas State Poet Laureate.

    Promoting Poetry

    When Octavio Quintanilla ('10 Ph.D.) served as Poet Laureate of San Antonio in 2017, he left a legacy in a park. At Poet's Pointe, visitors can reflect in a space that includes poetry incorporated into artwork. Now Quintanilla is the 2025 Texas State Poet Laureate, and he hopes to promote the art form to communities that may not have access to it.

  • Letitia Huckaby ('10 M.F.A.) is the 2026 Texas State Artist-2D and is an assistant professor in the College of Visual Arts and Design.

    Picturing the Truth

    When Letitia Huckaby learned she was the 2026 Texas State Artist of the Year 2D, she said she was "shocked." "Because that's for the whole state. It's a little bit overwhelming to think about it." The Fort Worth-based assistant professor of studio art in the College of Visual Arts and Design has received acclaim for her work, which incorporates photographs onto fabric and quilts.

  • Norah Jones, who attended UNT in the 1990s, is the 2026 Texas State Musician-Nonclassical.

    Lone Stars

    Norah Jones, who attended UNT in the 1990s, is the 2026 Texas State Musician-Nonclassical. Jones is a 10-time Grammy Award-winning musician. Her most recent win came this past spring in the best traditional pop vocal album category for "Visions." The musician was the 2016 recipient of the UNT Presidential Medal of Honor, the highest university honor given.

  • Calvin Hernard mixing things in a lab

    NSF CAREER Winners

    The NSF’s CAREER award honors tenure-track faculty who make significant impact in their field or on society. UNT’s 2025 winner Calvin Henard, an assistant professor of microbiology in the College of Science, is researching how methane-eating bacteria could turn the gas into something more sustainable. UNT has had 26 researchers earn NSF CAREER awards over the years.

  • Professor Shengqian Ma in the lab

    TAMEST Award

    Professor Shengqian Ma, a global leader in nanoporous materials research, earned the 2024 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Physical Sciences from the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST). He was chosen for his innovative work in the field of decontamination, which explores solutions for removing oil from the ocean. Ma is UNT’s first recipient of the award.

  • Scott Tixier, associate professor of jazz violin and Best Film Category nominee.

    Grammy Awards

    Alumni, students and faculty in UNT's renowned College of Music are regularly recognized with Grammy nominations and awards. In 2025, Associate Professor of Jazz Violin Scott Tixier performed in a documentary nominated in the Best Film Music category while Nick Finzer’s record label received nominations for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Best Jazz Performance.

  • Brian Meckes posing in front of his lab

    Powe Faculty Award

    Biomedical engineering faculty member Brian Meckes researches how nanoparticle therapies could find better treatment for conditions like cancer. His work earned him a prestigious Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which provides seed money for research to junior faculty members in multiple disciplines.