By Xoel Cardenas, Sr. Communications Specialist, Office of the Vice President for Research
The University of Utah and the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) are proud to announce that nine distinguished professors have been selected for the 2025 Faculty Fellow Awards.
The award provides a semester of full release time — free from teaching and administrative responsibilities — allowing faculty to dedicate themselves fully to groundbreaking scholarly or creative research projects. Each recipient’s department also receives $15,000 to offset the cost of this release time, ensuring institutional support for their research.
2025 Faculty Award recipients (listed alphabetically):
- David Bresnahan, History
- Bethany Buck, Chemistry
- Blake Gutt, World Languages & Cultures
- Tanmoy Laskar, Physics & Astronomy
- Benjamin Lyons, Communications
- Maureen Mathison, Writing & Rhetoric Studies
- Simon McEnteggart, Film and Media Arts
- Ryan Moran, History
- Margaret Wan, World Language & Cultures
“It is a pleasure to announce faculty fellowships for the upcoming academic year,” said Dr. Jakob Jensen, Associate Vice President for Research at the U. “The faculty are all excellent, and I know they will use this much needed time to complete amazing work.”
Faculty fellow awards are rigorously evaluated based on:
- The significance and feasibility of the proposed research or creative project
- The potential impact on the applicant’s career trajectory
- The role of release-time on advancing the faculty member’s research and creative work
- The contribution to the research and creative missions of their Department, College, and University
- The potential to enhance the University of Utah’s national and international research profile
A demonstrated commitment to social impact and fostering community through their work
In general, award applications are evaluated on the criteria listed above by the University Research Committee, which is a campus-wide faculty committee tasked with reviewing creative and scholarly research proposals and making funding recommendations to the VPR. More information on proposal eligibility criteria, review process and evaluation criteria can be found here.
Jensen emphasized that while universities often prioritize funding, time is an equally valuable resource in driving innovation.
“Time is an essential asset that can drive innovation in and of itself,” said Jensen. “Faculty fellowships provide faculty with time. They use it to identify key problems, cultivate solutions, and executive impactful research projects. In many ways, time is the most important resource at a university.”
Congratulations to all the 2025 Faculty Fellow Award recipients!
For more information on the Faculty Fellow Awards, visit the VPR website. A list of previous award recipients can be found here.