Ernest A. Lynton Award

The Lynton Award pays tribute to the memory of Ernest Lynton, who raised the profile and status of faculty professional service both nationally and internationally. Lynton championed a vision of service that embraced collective responsibility and an understanding of colleges and universities as catalyst not only in the discovery of new knowledge but also in its application throughout society.

In 1984 Lynton wrote: “viewing professional service as an institutional priority is important because only when it is recognized as a priority will professional service as an individual faculty activity be given serious attention and the proper incentives it requires and deserves.” When NERCHE first presented this award, many nominees carried out their professional service with few if any institutional supports or rewards. Over the years, we received more and more nomination letters from provosts and presidents indicating a sea change in the level of regard for and the institutional commitment to this kind of engaged scholarly work.
In 2007, the Lynton Award was renamed the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. The change in language represents a shift from a more unilateral, expert-driven approach to outreach that prevailed in the 80's and early 90s to one that O’Meara and Rice describe as “going beyond the expert model that often gets in the way of constructive university-community collaboration, …calls on faculty to move beyond ‘outreach,’…asks scholars to go beyond ‘service,’ with its overtones of noblesse oblige. What it emphasizes is genuine collaboration: that the learning and teaching be multidirectional and the expertise shared. It represents a basic re-conceptualization of faculty involvement in community-based work” (Faculty Priorities Reconsidered 2005).

In 2009, the Lynton Award was designated as an award for early career faculty (pre-tenure at tenure-granting campuses and early career – within the first six years – at campuses with long-term contracts). Click here to view the 2009 Lynton Award Call for Nominations.

NERCHE and CUMU are partnering to manage the Lynton Award. NERCHE will continue to be the Lynton Award home, and will also be primarily responsible for the selection of the annual award recipient and finalists. The award will be presented each year at CUMU’s annual conference.

For more information about the Ernest A. Lynton Award, please contact NERCHE at (617) 287-7740 or via email at nerche@umb.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information, go to http://www.nerche.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26:ernest-a-layton-award&catid=25:lynton-award&Itemid=8