The Dornsife Office of Community Engagement and the Office of Interim Dean Moh El-Naggar are proud to announce the second annual Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Awards. These awards recognize both scholarly and service-focused contributions that are emblematic of our commitment to elevating and embodying the community-centric values of respect, kindness, curiosity, and collegiality in service to the common good.
Any faculty, staff, or student in Dornsife College can nominate a person they believe has demonstrated their commitment to these values through scholarship or actions with the Dornsife, USC, and local communities.
Any faculty, staff member, or graduate student with a primary affiliation in Dornsife College is eligible; self-nominations are welcomed. Nominees will be selected by the staff of the Dornsife Office of Community Engagement in collaboration with Interim Dean El-Naggar. Awards will be presented at a celebration in the spring semester
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Categories
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The Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Scholarship recognizes impactful publications, research, or engagement with the public or academia that promotes community-centric values of respect, kindness, curiosity, and collegiality in service to the common good.
Efforts may also include championing people-centered causes in their professional organizations and roles.
- Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Scholarship – Faculty
- Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Scholarship – Graduate Student
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The Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Community Contributions recognizes individual efforts to enhance communities within Dornsife, USC, and beyond, through committed action including but not limited to: mentoring; supportive leadership; efforts to intentionally build bridges to the community and/or across fields; creating or supporting groups that benefit Dornsife, USC, or members of local communities. These efforts should reflect individuals who embody these practices in their day-to-day interactions with others to better the community and those around them.
- Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Community Contributions – Faculty
- Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Community Contributions – Staff
- Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award for Outstanding Community Contributions – Graduate Student
Nomination and Award Process
DOCE would like to thank you, our community, for your support of the Dean’s Emblem awards this nominations cycle. We have decided to make the Emblems a biannual celebration instead of an annual one. We will therefore pause nominations for the time being and resume them in Spring 2026. Any nominations that have been submitted will remain active and will be considered alongside others next fall. We are looking forward to celebrating our champions of community in scholarship and practice. Please feel free to contact our office at doce@dornsife.usc.edu with any questions. We look forward to continuing to support you this academic year.
Award Recipients
Please help us in celebrating our 2024 Dornsife Dean’s Emblem Award Recipients. To read more about our winners, click here.
Oneka LaBennett
Associate Professor
American Studies
Ethnicity and Gender and Sexuality Studies
Carly Kenkel
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences
Zinsmeyer Early Career Chair in Marine Studies
Rachel Keith
Doctoral Student
Department of Philosophy
