Call for Award Nominations

All nominations are due by November 22, 2021.

The Society of American Law Teachers invites members to nominate individuals or groups for the Great Teacher Award, the M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award, and the Junior Faculty Teaching Award. Please take a moment to recognize members of academia and the community for their exceptional and meaningful contributions to social justice, human rights, equality, and a better world.

SALT will honor the awardees and celebrate our community at the virtual annual event, date still to be determined. The successful nominees must be available to receive the award virtually at SALT’s celebration. You must be a current member of SALT to make a nomination. To check the status of your membership, email info@saltlaw.org. The list of previous award winners is included below.

M. Shanara Gilbert Award
The M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award recognizes the contributions of individuals or groups who are tireless advocates for social justice, human rights, equality, and justice. The award is named after a CUNY Law School professor who dedicated her life to these principals and worked for social justice domestically and internationally. In her memory, SALT honors those who believe in fighting for a better world. The M. Shanara Gilbert Award is not awarded annually and is only bestowed when an exceptional individual, people, group or organization make significant contributions that warrant recognition from our community. Nominees do not need to be academics or associated with academic institutions.

Nominations should address:

• The issues that the nominee challenges through their advocacy
• The impact of the nominee’s advocacy

Past M. Shanara Gilbert Honorees: Erika George, Azadeh N. Shashahani, the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at MSU Law, Jim Silk, Zahra Billoo, Sherrilyn Ifill, Hope Lewis, Florence Roisman, Norris Henderson, Prison Law Office, Rhonda Copelon, Jennifer Harbury and Sister Dianna Ortiz, Joshua Rosenkranz, David Cole and Center for Constitutional Rights, Eva Patterson, Congressman John Lewis, Steven Bright and Bryan Stevenson, Honorable Barney Frank, Dr. Jesse N. Stone, Jr., and M. Shanara Gilbert

Great Teacher Award
The SALT Great Teacher Award recognizes individuals that have made important contributions to teaching, legal education, and mentoring.

Nominations should address:

• The nominee’s excellence in teaching, defined as the incorporation of social justice themes in the classroom and innovative curricular design in order to incorporate diversity and access to justice
• The nominee’s commitment to advancing social justice and equality through advocacy and mentoring

Past Great Teacher Honorees: Jules Lobel, Jean C. Love, Lisa Brodoff, Jeff Selbin, Frank Askin, Susan Bryant and Jean Koh Peters, Martha Mahoney, Holly Maguigan, Margaret Montoya, Keith Aoki, Phoebe Haddon, Francisco Valdés, Steve Wizner, Fran Ansley, Stephanie Wildman, Eric Yamamoto, Howard Glickstein, Bill Quigley, Charles Lawrence & Mari Matsuda, SALT Founders, Sylvia Law, Marjorie M. Schultz, Anthony Amsterdam, Jim Jones, W. Hayward Burns, Barbara Aldave, Trina Grillo, Norman Dorsen, Cruz Reynoso, Mary Jo Frug, Marilyn Yarborough, Rhonda Rivera, University of Wisconsin Law School, Howard Lesnick, Barbara Babcock, Clinton Bamberger, CUNY Law School, Derrick Bell, Herma Hill Kay, Charles Black, Arthur Leff, Harry Edwards, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rennard Strickland, Thomas Emerson, Charles Miller, David Cavers.

Junior Faculty Award
The SALT Junior Faculty Award recognizes an outstanding recent entrant (seven years or fewer) into legal education who demonstrates a commitment to justice, equality, and academic excellence through their teaching, scholarship, and/or social justice advocacy. This award is open to faculty in any status, including clinical, legal research and writing, librarian, and doctrinal teachers, as well as contract, tenure-track, and tenured faculty.

Nominations should address:

• The nominee’s excellence in teaching, defined as the incorporation of social justice themes in the classroom and innovative curricular design in order to incorporate diversity and access to justice,
• The nominee’s excellence in scholarship, defined as the incorporation of social justice and equality themes in scholarship.
• The nominee’s excellence in advocacy, defined as efforts to increase access to and inclusion in legal education to marginalized students and first generation students; service to under-served and marginalized populations through direct advocacy or representation; and/or efforts to support individuals, nonprofits, communities, and/or movements that further justice and equality.
• The nominee’s mentorship of others, including engagement with students and faculty members, in social justice pedagogy, scholarship, career preparation, or advocacy.

The award committee will also consider the following factors in its decision-making process for all awards, which should be addressed in the nomination:

• Whether the nominee identifies as someone from a historically marginalized group;
• Whether the nominee has already received substantial recognition for their efforts (nominees who have not already received substantial recognition will be considered highly);
• If the nominee is an academic, whether the nominee’s home law school has provided tangible and/or intangible support to the nominee’s efforts; and
• If the nominee is an academic, the extent to which the nominee’s teaching area of focus aligns with social justice (nominees who focus on social justice but whose work is not a traditional focus of social justice advocacy will be considered highly).

Nomination Instructions
Nominations must be submitted to info@saltlaw.org, subject line Gilbert Award Nominee, Great Teacher Award Nominee or Junior Faculty Award Nominee, by November 22, 2021 and include:
• Name of the person or organization being nominated
• Name of the nominator
• Nominator and nominee SALT membership status
• Quotes from clients, students or community organizations, if possible
• Statement in support of the nomination (2 page maximum). The statement should explain why the person or organization deserves the award, including how their work contributes to the mission of SALT.