2026 AAUP Award Winners

Five faculty activists were recognized with AAUP awards at this year's AAUP Higher Ed Summit and Biennial Meeting.

Shannon Cummins of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Belle Boggs of North Carolina State University received the Georgina M. Smith Award, established in 1979 to honor AAUP leader Georgina M. Smith and recognize exceptional leadership in improving the status of academic women or academic collective bargaining.

Shannon Cummins led the UNO faculty bargaining team and developed a strategy that won the largest raises faculty had seen for many years, with some faculty noting it was the largest or one of the largest raises received in twenty-five years working at the university. Along with addressing salary compression and merit pay, and using data to inform meaningful discussions about systematic solutions for salary compression among non-tenure-track instructors and lecturers, Cummins' efforts will doubtlessly affect faculty retention going forward and ensure greater pay equity.

Belle Boggs has been instrumental in growing the North Carolina AAUP state conference to become the fastest growing conference in the country, coordinating efforts to defend academic freedom, faculty rights, and student safety. One of her shining moments was delivering a petition with over 3,000 signers opposing the UNC system's new harmful syllabi policy to President Peter Hans-along with some homemade jelly labeled "academic freedom is our jam"-which resulted in a direct meeting between President Hans, UNC system representatives, and AAUP representatives across the state.

Dee Sherwood of Western Michigan University and Joseph Fu of the University of Georgia received the Marilyn Sternberg Award, given to AAUP members who demonstrate concern for human rights, courage, persistence, political foresight, imagination, and collective bargaining skills.

Hailed by colleagues as a fierce and compassionate leader whose work is grounded in a profound commitment to justice, equity, and human dignity, Dee Sherwood worked as a grievance officer to provide guidance, encouragement, and steadfast support to faculty members navigating difficult workplace challenges. During contract negotiations, she played a critical role in mobilizing faculty, organizing direct actions, developing communications materials, and helping build the collective power necessary to advance the interests of WMU faculty.

As a founding member and leader of the United Campus Workers of Georgia, Joseph Fu transformed frustration over workplace injustice into meaningful collective action, building an organization dedicated to protecting workers, advancing dignity in the workplace, and creating a stronger voice for faculty and staff across Georgia's public universities. In a state where collective bargaining is not formally recognized, he has persistently built structures that empower workers, amplify underrepresented voices, and advance the principles of shared governance and workplace democracy.

Finally, Jennifer Ruth of Portland State University, a longtime and significant defender of academic freedom at both the national and chapter levels of the AAUP, received the Outstanding Achievement Award, established in 2016 and granted to an AAUP member for outstanding chapter- or conference-level work that advances academic freedom or shared governance. She has served as a member of the national AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure since 2018, contributing directly to the development and application of AAUP policy in cases affecting faculty across the country, and served as vice president for grievances and academic freedom for PSU-AAUP from 2018 to 2021. Aside from these important efforts, she has also strengthened the intellectual and public defense of academic freedom through extensive scholarship and editorial leadership, including several books on academic freedom and a stint as the faculty editor of the AAUP's Journal of Academic Freedom.