CNS Alumni Awards

2026 CNS Alumni Award Recipients

2025 CNS Alumni Award Recipients (above, left to right): Derrick Maxwell BS '14; CNS Dean Mike Fox; Matthew Tirrell PhD '77; and Ahmed A. H. Siddig PhD ’15.

CNS Alumni Awards

The CNS Alumni Awards, a collaboration between the college and the CNS Dean’s Advisory Board, recognize the accomplishments of our outstanding alumni whose careers are positively impacting society and science.

CNS Distinguished Alumni Award

Visionary leaders in their field, recipients of this honor have reached exceptional levels of professional and personal achievement. This award recognizes distinguished leadership, service, teaching, innovation, and/or other exemplary accomplishments that positively impact society and science.

CNS Early Career Alumni Award

Emerging leaders in the early stages of their careers, recipients of this honor are no more than ten years out from receiving their terminal degree or no more than fifteen years out from receiving their undergraduate degree from the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst. This award recognizes outstanding professional and personal achievements and highlights the recipient’s ambitions and potential to positively impact society and science.

Nominations

Nomination Deadline: April 15

Nominations will be reviewed and selected by members of the College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board. Awardees will be notified by the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences in August and recognized at a UMass Amherst event on campus in the fall. Eligibility to receive the award is limited to alumni (undergraduate or graduate) of the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst. 

Complete the nomination form

Note: Self-nominations are not eligible. The nominator should disclose familial ties to candidate.

The following information is required for your nomination form submission:

  • Letter of Statement/Reference Letter from Nominator
  • Nominee's Professional Summary (curriculum vitae, professional achievements relevant to criteria for award)
  • Minimum of one additional Reference Letter, including name and contact information