The MIT Excellence Awards

The entire MIT community is invited to join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our remarkable colleagues at a ceremony each year on campus. See prior MIT Excellence Award + Collier Medal award recipients.

These awards are intended primarily to acknowledge the work of service, support, administrative, and sponsored research staff. They are also for faculty and other academic staff where their work meets the specific guidelines described within the six award categories. These awards are not intended to recognize research or teaching accomplishments. Both teams and individuals are eligible to be nominated for any of the award categories. Subcontractors, consultants, outsourced, and temporary employees are not eligible for the cash award.

Staff and faculty members who serve on the MIT Excellence Awards Selection Committee are not eligible for a team or individual awards during the year(s) they serve.

The Collier Medal is open to all MIT staff and students, faculty, and the MIT community.

Anyone at MIT may nominate an individual or a team for an award during the nomination period, which runs each fall.

The nomination window for the 2025 MIT Excellence Awards + Collier Medal is now open. Learn more and nominate an exceptional colleague today.

Each year a new committee is chosen to review nominations and select award recipients. Committee members include previous award recipients, support, service, sponsored research, and administrative staff members, and faculty. Every effort is made to create a diverse group with representatives from many different schools and departments across the Institute. Committee members are not permitted to submit nominations and are not eligible to receive an award during the time they serve.

The committee evaluates the nominations based on how well they address the questions posed in the nomination form and the criteria of the specific award category. The committee then meets to make its final selections.

Individual recipients receive $2,000; teams receive up to $10,000 ($2,000 maximum per individual). Cash awards are considered additional pay and will have payroll taxes removed before issuance.

MIT Excellence Award nominees are nominated in one of the categories below:

• Bringing out the Best: Everyday Leadership Throughout MIT
• Embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Maximizing MIT’s Strengths
• Innovative Solutions: Collaborating for Results
• Outstanding Contributor: Working Behind the Scenes
• Serving our Community: Providing Consistent and Exceptional Service 
• Sustaining MIT: Meeting the Needs of the Present and Future 
• Collier Medal