"Jeff’s overall accomplishments as a higher education leader, scholar, teacher, grant administrator, and public intellectual are exceptional. Jeff has worked diligently as a member of the ASHE Executive Committee since 2014. Jeff performs his leadership and service to ASHE with humility, always asking how he can better support an organization dedicated to his passion – the conduct of scholarly inquiry and its application to the betterment of higher education and society at large."

The ASHE Distinguished Service Award is presented in recognition of exceptional commitment to the Association and significant contribution to its success.

"Dr. Johnson’s scholarship provides a transformative avenue for the study of Hip-Hop as it relates to higher education, graciously yet purposively navigates the educational realms of Black critical thought, marronage, and higher education, and uniquely positions Hip-Hop as a study of Black liberation and flight for those within and beyond the ivory tower of the Academy."

*In addition to being recognized during the ASHE Awards Ceremony, Johnson will deliver the Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Presentation .

Named in memory of Irvin Lee (Bobby) Wright, the Dissertation of the Year Award recognizes one or more exemplary dissertations in the field of higher education. The Penn State Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) sponsors the Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year award to commemorate the legacy of Bobby Wright’s life and scholarship.

"Zee’s cumulative contributions to higher education research and praxis over four decades, beginning in the 1980s, have been prescient, deeply-grounded, and always generously collaborative. Her analytical clarity in examining both good and bad practices at top-tier as well as under-resourced public institutions reflected her particularly rigorous sociologist’s imagination in insisting on their relations to systems, structures, and organizations. Her fearless and focused determination in advocating for a “Liberating Education” tapped the resilient legacies and visions of her refugee/immigrant family history."

The Howard Bowen Distinguished Career Award is presented to an individual whose professional life has been devoted in substantial part to the study of higher education and whose career has significantly advanced the field through extraordinary scholarship, leadership and service.

"Although Dr. Harper’s talents as a nationally recognized leader are tremendous, he has consistently contributed to and engaged with the ASHE community in various leadership roles. Some of these roles include early career contributions as Co-Chair for the 2006 Annual Committee Program-Students Section and serving as a member for the Bobby Wright Dissertation of the Year Award, the Annual Meeting Evaluation Committee, and the CEP Awards Committee. These earlier roles would serve as the foundation for his increased leadership as a Board Member and ultimately his role as ASHE President."

The Leadership Award recognizes individuals who bring visibility and support to the field of higher education by demonstrating the contributions of the study of higher education to policy formation, or in gaining substantial resources for research and training in higher education.

"Linda listened to my goals and interests and provided ideas and opportunities for me to test the waters in a variety of ways, from project management (helping hone my administrative skills) to contributing to research projects and grant writing to the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant in multiple classes."

"Linda is truly invested in my success as a faculty member, and she goes above and beyond. An attentive listener, with a keen understanding of the field, she has been an invaluable asset to me as I have navigated my tenure-track academic journey."

Recipients of the ASHE Mentoring Award will have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to the professional and scholarly development of emerging scholars in ASHE and in the field of higher education.

"The scholarly accomplishments of Dr. Nicolazzo, which are linked to her accomplishments in outreach as a public intellectual and in her advising as a mentor are truly exceptional, exemplifying the best of what a professor can be. I can say with full confidence that Dr. Z Nicolazzo’s record of accomplishment is on a level achieved by only a couple of other scholars in that time. It is hard for me to imagine how anyone could have done more in their capacity as an Assistant Professor."

The Early Career Award , called the Promising Scholar Award in 1989 and 1990, is given for a significant body of scholarship, a single extraordinary research achievement by a higher education scholar, or recognition of a potential for future research.

"This is a very thoughtful book situated within its proper societal context--ongoing systems of racism and oppression in higher education. Cabrera’s book discusses the subtle--and not so subtle--ways that racism, perpetrated by white men, plays out on college campuse s. The work is a significant, important shift in research on diversity in higher education, away from the vantage point of those who experience problems because of their diversity and toward the systemic structures that create those problematic experiences."

The Outstanding Book Award recognizes a book that has significantly contributed to the study and scholarship of higher education. 

"Neumann is nationally recognized as an expert in qualitative research methods and teaching of research methods to doctoral students and novice faculty members. Reflecting on the meaning of her research Professor Neumann says: “My interest in the study of college teaching grows from a long-term personal and professional commitment to re-anchor the study of higher education in the educating activities that comprise the “heart of the enterprise.” I am committed to making high quality college teaching and learning available to all American populations, particularly those that have historically been underrepresented on our campuses.""

The Research Achievement Award is presented for outstanding contribution to research for an individual whose published research (theoretical, empirical or applied) advances understanding of higher education in a significant way.

"In the spirit of Barbara Townsend, Sarah’s scholarship has encompassed a particular focus on community colleges and gender in higher education. Sarah’s contribution to scholarship on gender issues in higher education has been most prominent in the area of science identity development among Latinas."

*In addition to being recognized during the ASHE Awards Ceremony, Rodriguez will deliver the Townsend Lecture .



The Barbara Townsend Lecture , awarded by the Council for Advancement of Higher Education Programs (CAHEP), focuses on community colleges, feminist studies, doctoral education, and/or higher education programs. It is named in honor of Barbara Townsend, who served as the ASHE Executive Director and co-founded CAHEP in 1995.

"D-L remains dedicated to expanding and lifting up students, colleagues, and the field of higher education. In his roles as ASHE CEP Chair and ASHE Program Chair, as well as through other (non)formal roles such as reviewing ASHE proposals, he has generously given his time to support and encourage ASHE members, especially those who have chosen the challenging path of engaging research that critiques and seeks to transform oppressive systems in higher education."

"Anthony has carefully documented his methodology, explored his positionality, and shown caution in his interpretation of his findings. In fact, it is his nuanced understanding that not all under-represented students from economically distressed backgrounds share the same social and academic adjustment to elite colleges that represents his breakthrough contribution to the field. He is just at the beginning of his career, but there is much more of outstanding quality to come."

"In  Professorial Pathways, Finkelstein and Jones consider how academic careers vary in countries that are fundamentally different in their organization and dynamics. The volume brings together detailed case studies of the latest and ever-changing educational developments in ten countries across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America."

*In addition to being recognized during the ASHE Awards Ceremony, Finkelstein and Jones will be recognized during the CIHE Business Meeting.

Unlike a lifetime achievement award, or an award that focuses on a particular form of research, the Council on International Higher Education (CIHE) Award for Significant Research on International Higher Education is focused on state-of-the-art knowledge and scholarship, whether it is manifested in a journal article, book, edited volume, research initiative, or other top quality contribution which significantly changed the existing thinking on a topic in the field.

"Paul Lingenfelter has been an active and steady voice in the field of public policy for higher education for decades. Paul has been a leading voice on state higher education finance and state leadership and governance for higher education. For 13 years Paul served as the president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers organization (SHEEO)."

*In addition to being recognized during the ASHE Awards Ceremony, Lingenfelter will be recognized during the CPPHE Pre-Conference .

The Council on Public Policy in Higher Education (CPPHE) Excellence in Public Policy in Higher Education Award recognizes excellence in work at the nexus of academic scholarship and policy practice in the field of public policy and higher education.