First presented in 1981 and sponsored jointly by CGS and ProQuest, part of Clarivate, these awards are made each year to individuals who, in the opinion of the award committee, have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline.
Two awards are given annually in two different broad areas (mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering; and social sciences; and the biological and life sciences; and humanities and fine arts.) Individuals must be nominated for these awards by a member institution, nominations will be accepted until June 9, 2025. Nominated dissertations must be in the ProQuest database to be eligible for the award.
2025 Fields of Competition
There are two broad fields of competition for the 2025 dissertation awards. Under each
broad field, we provide a non-inclusive list of fine fields that are considered to belong to
the broader fields under consideration. If you have questions about whether a dissertation
qualifies for consideration, please contact Anna M. Naranjo at anaranjo@cgs.nche.edu.
- Biological Sciences/Life Sciences: biology; botany; zoology; ecology; embryology; entomology; genetics; nutrition; plant pathology; plant physiology; anatomy; biochemistry; biophysics; microbiology; pathology; pharmacology; physiology; and related fields (health sciences). Also included are agriculture, forestry, zoology; and related fields.
- Humanities and Fine Arts: history; philosophy; language; linguistics; literature; archaeology; jurisprudence; the history, theory and criticism of the arts; ethics; comparative religion; and those aspects of the social sciences that employ historical or philosophical approaches.
If a dissertation is multi- or interdisciplinary in nature, a significant portion of the work must be comprised by at least one of the 2025 fields of competition.
Eligibility
The effective date of the degree awarded, or the completion of doctoral degree requirements and dissertation, must lie in the period of July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025, inclusive, for each nominee selected. Such degree award or completion is to be confirmed by the institution’s graduate dean or other administrative officer responsible for doctoral degree programs (IHE1).
Award Information
Two CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, each consisting of an award of $2,000 and a certificate of recognition, will be presented at the CGS Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon in December 2025, in Washington, DC. Reasonable travel expenses of award recipients will be covered. Only the winners and the nominating deans will be notified of the outcomes of the competition prior to the Awards Luncheon.
Nomination Deadline
All nominations need to be submitted by June 9, 2025, by 5 PM PST. This internal deadline allows the WSU committee time to select the top nominee to send to WAGS.
Nomination Procedure
The Graduate School committee will establish an internal selection process, and the top nomination will be sent to CGS for competition at the regional level.
The review status for all nominations will be communicated no later than July 3, 2025.
Nomination Packet
In the online nomination form below, nominators will be required to prepare/upload the following materials as one PDF document using the following file name convention and upload it through the nomination form: “Nominee’s last name_WSU.pdf”
- An abstract of the nominee’s dissertation (not to exceed 5 double-spaced pages). Appendices containing other material, such as charts, tables, and/or references may be included as additional pages (should not exceed five pages).
- Three letters of recommendation evaluating the significance and quality of the nominee’s dissertation work. One of these letters is to be from the nominee’s dissertation supervisor, another from a member of the nominee’s dissertation committee, and the third from a person of the nominee’s choice.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae (not to exceed five pages).