GOLD SHIELD, ALUMNAE OF UCLA
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Gold Shield Faculty Prize
An Award for Academic Excellence
To mark Gold Shield's fiftieth anniversary in 1986, the members searched for a worthwhile gift for the University. A Special Projects Committee conceived the idea for the Gold Shield Faculty Prize, An Award for Academic Excellence. The goal was the development of a Prize that would provide recognition and reward to mid-level faculty in UCLA departments with undergraduate degree programs. This focus was selected because faculty in mid-career often do not receive the extra professional incentives available to distinguished senior faculty. Following a two-year campaign, the goal of $250,000 was reached and the Faculty Prize endowment was established in the UCLA Foundation. This endowment has since grown to more than $500,000.
The first Prize was awarded in 1986 and has been awarded biennially in amounts of approximately $30,000 to an outstanding UCLA faculty member. Although the Prize is still held by the recipient for two years, In 2006, Gold Shield began to award the Prize annually, alternating between awardees from the north campus and those from the south campus.The award is to be used for scholarly purposes. The recipient is selected annually by a committee of peers appointed by the Academic Senate. This selection committee also includes a student and Gold Shield representatives. Recipients have demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment in undergraduate teaching and research or creative activity together with an acceptable level of public service within the university.
In 2000, the College of Letters and Science and Gold Shield, Alumnae of UCLA were pleased to announce that Faculty Prize recipients would periodically design and teach innovative lecture-discussion classes that will bring leading research ideas into the classroom available to all UCLA undergraduates. These courses are not being given at this time.
In 2006, Gold Shield, with the encouragement of its past recipients, decide to offer the Prize annually, although it would still be a two year prize. The purpose was to alternate between north and south campus with the awards, thus providing a more equitable distribution of recipients across the campus.
