Academic Council Award
The 2025 Call for Nominations is now open! Nominations are due on Fri, June 27th at 5pm
The CHA Academic Council Award was established in 2013 to highlight the value placed on academic excellence and achievement by our institution. The award recognizes members of our community who have made significant contributions to excellence in academic spheres including education, mentorship, research, or scholarship. One or more individuals may be honored in any given year. This award for academic excellence is broadly intended to encompass any number of areas of distinction within domains including:
Teaching and/or precepting students, trainees, or colleagues
Design and/or implementation of innovative curricula and/or assessment methodologies
Design and/or administration of excellent training programs
Supervision or mentorship
Research that influences clinical, basic science, healthcare systems, or policy domains
Scholarly significance (i.e., publications/presentations)
Eligibility, Nomination and Review Process:
Anyone within the Cambridge Health Alliance community may nominate a candidate for the CHA Academic Council Award. This award is intended for mid-career CHA faculty or staff who are employed at least half time; those within 5 years of completing training or in the late phase of their career are not eligible.
Additional criteria which may be considered, and which should be made explicit in the nomination letter:
Academic impact extends beyond CHA through publication, presentation, academic leadership roles or other means
Nominees with academic appointments at Harvard Medical School or Tufts University School of Medicine show appropriate and timely engagement in medical school promotion/ advancement processes.
Academic work aligns with CHA’s mission and strategic plan
While excellent clinical care may be highlighted, the focus of this award is on academic engagement (which may include clinical precepting, role modeling, etc.)
The selection committee is appointed by the Director of Professional and Academic Development. Each honoree will be celebrated at a reception with the CHA community. Recipients’ names will be inscribed on a plaque prominently displayed in the institution.
Submitting a Nomination: Due Fri, June 27th at 5pm.
Please upload a nomination letter detailing the nominees’s academic accomplishments by completing the Google Form. The letter must be no more than 1000 words (single spaced, normal margins and font size) in length (excluding signatories). This letter can be signed by more than one person. Out of fairness for all candidates, we cannot accept letters that exceed the word count or are submitted after the deadline.
Previous recipients (listed to the right) may not be nominated.
Suggestions for Crafting a Successful Nomination Letter:
Carefully read the call for nominations: make sure your nominee meets basic eligibility requirements and that your letter squarely focuses on one or more of the relevant domain(s). Seek input from a range of learners and colleagues who can speak to different facets of the nominee's exceptional academic record and inspirational impact. Include memorable quotes to bring alive each point you wish to emphasize. Multiple signatories are encouraged.
Tell smaller stories that build into the larger story that you wish to convey about the nominee. Specific, moving stories are more compelling than a list of generic attributes.
Feel free to reach out to cpd@challiance.org for clarification on nomination criteria or for general suggestions on what makes for a strong letter (of course we cannot comment on specific strategies for specific candidates).
Please find below successful example letters:
The selection committee may contact the nominator for the nominee’s CV. If possible, please obtain the CV beforehand (usually a Department Chief has access) in case we make this request. All nominations are due by Friday, June 27th at 5PM.For any additional questions, please email cpd@challiance.org.
2024 Academic Council Award Recipients: Arundhati Ghosh, MD, FACS - Department of Surgery; Jessica Santos, PhD - Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research; Bonni Stahl, MD - Department of Medicine
Previous recipients (listed below) may not be nominated:
2024: Arundhati Ghosh, Jessica Santos, Bonni Stahl
2022: Nicholas Carson, Ellie Grossman, Sharmila Mehta
2021: Amber Frank, Adam Gaffney, Rachel Hathaway, Brittany Pierce, Margaret Weiss
2020: Jessica Early, Hsiang Huang, Ranjani Paradise, David Porell, Bianca Shagrin, Linda Shipton
2019: Gaurab Basu, Judy Fleishman, Yamini Saravanan, Tara Singh
2018: Benjamin Cook, Abigail Love, Randi Sokol, Leah Zallman
2017: Wes Boyd, Honor McNaughton, Priyank Jain
2016: Zev Schuman-Olivier, Jamie Barrett, Rob Marlin, Andrea Gordon
2015: Rebecca Drill, Mark McGovern, Sandra DeJong, Kathe Miller
2014: Monica Demasi, Allen Shaughnessy, Danny McCormick, Diya Kallivayalil
2013: David Hirsh, Lior Givon, Rachel Stark, Karen Hacker
2024 Academic Council Award and 2024 Sandra and Arnold Gold Award for Humanistic Teaching recipients honored: The Center for Professional and Academic Development and the Academic Council hosted the 12th annual CHA Academic Council Award Ceremony earlier this month! It was wonderful to be back in person in the Healy Building atrium honoring our 2024 awardees and recent recipients of academic promotions. The event was well-attended by the CHA community, including colleagues, senior leaders, award nominators, and families of the awardees — all brimming with smiles and joy. Award nominators gave moving tributes about their honorees; Bill Lahey, Chairman, Board of Trustees spoke of the central role of academics to CHA’s identity and mission.
Click here to view the 2022 Academic Council Award Ceremony honoring our 2021 and 2020 awardees. The ceremony was held virtually on June 2, 2022.
Click here to view the 2020 Academic Council Award Ceremony which was held virtually on November 18, 2020.
