The RSS Awards and Endowment Committee is now seeking nominations for awards and grant submissions. The deadline for submissions and nominations is January 17, 2025.

When nominating someone for any award, nominators should consider whether the candidate meets the standards outline by the RSS Code of Ethics. RSS Award winners are expected to meet these standards: https://www.ruralsociology.org/rss-ethics. 

Distinguished Service to Rural Life Award 

Purpose: To recognize a person, organization, or collective who has made an outstanding contribution to the enhancement of rural life, rural people, or rural policy. 

Eligibility and Intent: Nominees should be individuals, organizations, or collectives whose activities exemplify the goals of the RSS. Nominees may or may not be RSS members. This award is intended to recognize excellence in non-academic settings, such as a non- governmental organization, government agency, or private firm. When nominating someone for any award, nominators should consider whether the candidate meets the standards outline by the RSS Code of Ethics.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator outlining the major contributions of the nominee. 

• A biographic sketch of the candidate/organization. 

• Two to four letters of support. 

• Evidentiary materials: up to three examples (e.g., brochure, report, etc.) describing the nominees’ contributions and/or project or program if nominee is an organization or collective. 

The Distinguished Service to Rural Life Award recipient will be invited to make a brief presentation at the Awards Banquet at the Society’s Annual Meeting. In addition to an engraved plaque, the award recipient will receive a lifetime RSS membership, two-nights lodging, travel reimbursement, and one banquet ticket to the annual conference. 
 

Margaret Hagood Distinguished Rural Sociologist Award 

Purpose: To honor one or more RSS members who have made superior career contributions to the field of rural sociology through research, teaching, extension, public service, and/or public policy.  

Eligibility and Intent: Awards are based on overall professional accomplishments in rural sociology. Competition will be Society-wide, but interest groups are encouraged to nominate candidates for each award.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator outlining the member’s qualifications for the award. 

• A current version of the nominee’s CV. 

• Two to four letters of support. 

• Optional supporting materials: selected publications, student or peer evaluations, and other professionally relevant materials.
   

Excellence in Research Award
Purpose: To recognize an RSS member who has made outstanding contributions to rural-oriented research and/or theory. 

Eligibility and Intent: Contribution of nominee to substantive area of rural-oriented research and/or theory should be emphasized. Competition will be Society-wide, but interest groups are encouraged to nominate candidates for each award.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator detailing the member's qualifications for the award. 

• A current version of the nominee's vita. 

• Two to four letters of support. 

• Evidentiary materials: up to three examples (e.g., publication, report) of the nominee's research. 
   

Excellence in Instruction Award 

Purpose: To recognize outstanding rural-oriented teaching by an RSS member at the graduate and/or undergraduate level. 

Eligibility and Intent: Innovation in teaching and learning should be emphasized. Innovation may relate to a particular course, thematic area, population of students or pedagogical approach or technique. Evidence of impact should be provided. Competition will be Society-wide, but interest groups are encouraged to nominate candidates for each award.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator detailing the member's qualifications for the award. 

• A current version of the nominee's CV. 

• Two to four letters of support. 

• Required supporting materials: selected evidence (syllabus, website, teaching evaluations, learning assessments) that supports the case for instructional excellence. 
   

Minnie Miller Brown Excellence in Extension and Public Service Award 

Purpose: To honor an RSS member, working at a university or college, who has made significant contributions to extension and public outreach. 

Eligibility and Intent: This award is intended to recognize public service excellence in academic settings. Excellence centers on having made a significant impact on rural residents, rural life, and/or rural policy. A specific program or area of outreach or extension should be highlighted. Competition will be Society-wide, but interest groups are encouraged to nominate candidates for each award.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator detailing the member's qualifications for the award. 

• A current version of the nominee's CV. 

• Two to four letters of support. 

• Required supporting materials: up to three examples (e.g., brochure, 1–2-page summary) describing the project or program. 
   

Excellence in Service to the Rural Sociological Society Award 

Purpose: This award recognizes an RSS member (or members) who have provided outstanding service and selfless effort beyond the call of duty in a singular area of effort on behalf of the Society. 

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A cover letter from the principal nominator outlining the specific outstanding service provided by the member. 

• Two letters of support.
   

Olaf Larson Graduate Student Paper Award 

Purpose: To enhance the involvement of graduate students in the RSS annual meeting, and to support their professional development, an award for the best graduate student paper submitted for the Annual Meeting will be presented each year by the Society. Presentation of the paper will take place as a special feature of one of the scheduled paper sessions. 

Eligibility and Requirements: To be eligible, papers must be authored by graduate students who are members of the Society. In multiple authored papers, all authors must be graduate students, although only the first author must be a member of the RSS. By graduate student we mean an individual who holds graduate-student membership in the RSS; this requires certification of graduate-student status by a faculty advisor. (The papers may not be co- authored by a faculty member.) The papers must be submitted to the Program Committee by the due date specified for all papers, and it obviously must be accepted for presentation at the RSS annual meeting in the year the award is made. Papers should be of normal journal article length and format (12 pt font, double-spaced, 20-30 pages inclusive). 

Master’s theses and dissertations will not be considered.  

Criteria: Papers will be evaluated on the basis of commonly accepted professional criteria: theoretical grounding, appropriate methodologies, and adequacy of supporting evidence, clarity in thought and writing, and contribution to the discipline. 

Award: The award includes a $300 prize, 3 nights lodging at the annual RSS conference, and one-year membership in RSS. 

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• One electronic copy of the completed paper. 

• A current version of the author's CV. 

• A letter from the author’s faculty advisor or department chair certifying graduate student status. 
   

Frederick H. Buttel Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award (Book) 

Purpose: The Frederick H. Buttel Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award recognizes a member of RSS for a specific recent scholarly work in the form of a book or journal article (alternating years for each format) that demonstrates particular excellence in rural sociology in the same spirit as that exemplified by the late Fred Buttel. 

Eligibility and Intent: The nominee must be a member of the Society. The Publication and Communications Committee solicits nominations for outstanding scholarly work that advance the field of rural sociological knowledge, alternating every other year between books and journal articles (annual meetings occurring in even years should consider a journal article and annual meeting occurring in odd years should consider books). The work must have been published within two years of the nomination.  

Award: The award includes a $300 prize. 

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Aysha Bodenhamer via email to [email protected]: 

• A letter of nomination from the author, publisher, or other relevant source. 

• A current version of the author’s vita. 

• A copy of the nominated article or book for review by the committee. 
   

The RSS Master’s Thesis Research Award 

Purpose, Intent and Eligibility: Proposals are invited to conduct research on any topic encompassed by the field of rural sociology. The awards are designed to stimulate research that will help develop the careers of future rural sociologists and support the broader mission of the Rural Sociological Society. Graduate student members of the Rural Sociological Society are eligible to apply for master’s thesis and Ph.D. dissertation research awards. Master’s thesis awards can be made for up to $2,500. Proposals approved for funding may receive budget allocations below the requested amounts, based on availability of funds and recommendations of the Endowment Awards Subcommittee. 

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Rachel Terman via email to [email protected]:

1. A short cover letter that includes a paragraph explaining how the research will influence the applicant’s future work related to rural sociology. 

2. A proposal, including the budget and budget justification, not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages using a 12-point font and 1” margins. This proposal should include: 

• A well-defined problem statement,

• An abbreviated literature review,  

• A section detailing research methods,  

• A work-plan schedule,  

• An itemized budget for the planned work, and 

• A brief budget justification narrative that meets the following guidelines:

          - Equipment purchases are not permitted with Endowment funds.
          - Because of limited funds and the relatively small dollar total of awards, the RSS will not pay overhead charges to the host institution of the recipient. 
          - The RSS Endowment Awards Subcommittee understands that individuals submitting proposals may seek additional funding from other sources. The committee requests that the budget narrative describe exactly which parts of the project would be supported by additional funds and which parts would be supported by RSS funds. 

3. A copy of the applicant’s CV.
4. A letter from the student’s major professor or thesis chair that addresses the project’s intellectual significance and the likelihood that work on the thesis will be actively pursued during the academic year in which the award is made.
  

The RSS Dissertation Research Award  

Purpose, Intent and Eligibility: Proposals are invited to conduct research on any topic encompassed by the field of rural sociology. The awards are designed to stimulate research that will help develop the careers of future rural sociologists and support the broader mission of the Rural Sociological Society. Graduate student members of the Rural Sociological Society are eligible to apply for master’s thesis and Ph.D. dissertation research awards. Dissertation awards can be made for up to $5,000. Proposals approved for funding may receive budget allocations below the requested amounts, based on availability of funds and recommendations of the Endowment Awards Subcommittee.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Rachel Terman via email to [email protected]: 

1. A short cover letter that includes a paragraph explaining how the research will influence the applicant’s future work related to rural sociology. 

2. A proposal, including the budget and budget justification, not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages using a 12-point font and 1” margins. This proposal should include: 

• A well-defined problem statement,  

• An abbreviated literature review,  

• A section detailing research methods,  

• A work-plan schedule,  

• An itemized budget for the planned work, and 

• A brief budget justification narrative that meets the following guidelines: 

           - Equipment purchases are not permitted with Endowment funds. 

          - Because of limited funds and the relatively small dollar total of awards, the RSS will not pay overhead charges to the host institution of the recipient.
          - The RSS Endowment Awards Subcommittee understands that individuals submitting proposals may seek additional funding from other sources. The committee requests that the budget narrative describe exactly which parts of the project would be supported by additional funds and which parts would be supported by RSS funds. 

3. A copy of the applicant’s CV. 

4. A letter from the student’s major professor or dissertation chair that addresses the project’s intellectual significance and the likelihood that work on the dissertation will be actively pursued during the academic year in which the award is made. 
 

The RSS Early Career Research Award 

Purpose, Intent and Eligibility: Members of the Rural Sociological Society who received their Ph.D. in the last five years preceding the award date are eligible to apply for RSS Early Career Research awards. Proposals are invited to conduct research on any topic encompassed by the field of rural sociology. The awards are designed to stimulate research that will help develop the careers of future rural sociologists and support the broader mission of the RuralSociological Society. The Early Career Research awards have previously been made for up to $5,000. Because the size of these awards is modest, proposals will generally involve small-scale projects that will enhance opportunities for scholars to pursue expanded research efforts in the future.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Rachel Terman via email to [email protected]: 

1. A short cover letter that includes a paragraph explaining how the research will influence the applicant’s future work related to rural sociology. 

2. A proposal, including the budget and budget justification, not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages using a 12-point font and 1” margins. This proposal should include: 

• A well-defined problem statement,  

• An abbreviated literature review,  

• A section detailing research methods,  

• A work-plan schedule,  

• An itemized budget for the planned work, and 

• A brief budget justification narrative that meets the following guidelines: 

          - Equipment purchases are not permitted with Endowment funds.  

          - Because of limited funds and the relatively small dollar total of awards, the RSS will not pay overhead charges to the host institution of the recipient. 

          - The RSS Endowment Awards Subcommittee understands that individuals submitting proposals may seek additional funding from other sources. The committee requests that the budget narrative describe exactly which parts of the project would be supported by additional funds and which parts would be supported by RSS funds. 

3. A copy of the applicant’s CV. 
 

Lawrence Busch Award for Graduate Student Research on Food and Agriculture 

Purpose, Intent, and Eligibility: The Lawrence Busch Award for Graduate Student Research on Food and Agriculture supports research with a focus on food and agriculture. The awardee shall be a member in good standing of the RSS at the time of the award. The recipient of this award shall engage in social research on issues related to food and/or agriculture. The award shall be available to anyone without regard to nationality of citizenship. The awardee need not be a sociologist but must be someone with a strong and demonstrable interest in social issues surrounding food and agriculture. The research may be of domestic or international relevance and shall have been approved by the appropriate offices of the student’s institution. The award is designed to stimulate research that will help develop the careers of future rural sociologists and support the broader mission of the Rural Sociological Society. Award winners are strongly encouraged to submit papers based on their research at future RSS Annual Meetings. Only one award can be awarded per year, regardless of the availability of funds. The amount granted will be no more than $1,500.00 and may be less depending on the availability of funds. The award shall be given directly to the recipient and not to any institution.  

Submit the following materials by January 17, 2025, to Rachel Terman via email to [email protected]: 

1. A short cover letter which includes a paragraph explaining how their thesis/dissertation/research will influence the applicant’s future work related to food and agriculture. 

2. The proposal, including the budget and budget justification, is limited to no more than 5 single-spaced pages of the research to be undertaken using a 12-point font and 1-inch margins. The applicant should include an itemized budget and a brief budget narrative. References are not included in the 5-page limit. The proposal should include: 

• A well-defined problem statement, 

• An abbreviated literature review, 

• A section detaining research methods, 

• A work-plan schedule, 

• Plans for dissemination of findings, 

• An itemized budget for the work planned, and 

• A brief budget justification narrative that meets the following guidelines:

          - Equipment purchases are not permitted with Endowment funds. 
          - Because of the limited funds and the relatively small dollar total of awards, RSS will not pay overhead charges to the host institution of the recipient. 
          - The RSS Endowment Committee understands that individuals submitting proposals may seek additional funding from other sources. The committee requests that the budget narrative describe exactly which parts of the project would be supported by additional funds and which parts would be supported by the Busch Award. 

3. Applicant’s CV.  

4. A letter from the student’s major professor or thesis/dissertation chair that addresses the project’s intellectual significance and the likelihood that work on the thesis/dissertation will be actively pursued during the current academic year.