Nominations/applications underway for three different Grinnell awards
July 17, 2024 — Two of Grinnell College’s most prestigious alumni honors will be accepting entries through the end of August.
Nominations are underway for the 2025 Alumni Awards. Grinnellians are encouraged to nominate a fellow alum for consideration. Additionally, applications are being collected for the 2024 Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Award. These should be submitted by the applicant rather than by a nominator. Both awards have submission deadlines of Aug. 31.
Social Innovator in Residence 2025 applications are also open but have a shorter deadline of Aug. 14. Applicants aren’t required to be alums.
Further details about each award are below.
Denise Iverson-Payne ’74, right, is presented with a 2024 Alumni Award from Robert Gehorsam ’76, Alumni Council past president, during Reunion 2024.
2025 Alumni Awards
The Grinnell College Alumni Awards have recognized individuals who embody Grinnell College’s mission of lifetime learning and service. Recipients, which date back to the class of 1900, have distinguished themselves by their service to their careers, their community, and/or the College.
Nominations are being accepted for the following classes, who will celebrate their reunions in 2025:
- 70th Reunion: 1955
- 60th Reunion: 1965-66
- 50th Reunion: 1975
- 40th Reunion: 1984-85
- 35th Reunion: 1989-91
- 25th Reunion: 2000
- 15th Reunion: 2009-11
- 10th Reunion: 2015
Complete an online nomination form to share details about the nominee. Current Grinnell College Board of Trustees and Alumni Council members are not eligible for an Alumni Award. Visit the Alumni Awards web page to find more information about the award and learn about past recipients.
The Grinnell College Alumni Council will select the recipients and share the news through an announcement in The Grinnellian e-newsletter early next year. The recipients will be presented with their awards May 31 at Alumni Assembly during Reunion 2025.
Ceramic artist Maggie Connolly ’07 was one of three alums selected for the 2023 Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Awards.
2024 Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Award
During Grinnell College’s sesquicentennial celebration in 1996, the Wall Award was established as a tribute to the College’s 150-year tradition of social commitment. The award was named in honor of Joseph Wall ’41, professor of history and longtime dean of the College, who inspired an ideal of social responsibility in his students.
Each year, a committee composed of alumni, faculty, and a student choose up to two alumni award recipients. They receive up to $40,000 prizes to either jump-start or complete a project that shows creativity and commitment to effecting positive social change. Any graduate of Grinnell College is eligible to apply, as long as they themselves will act as a principal of the project.
To apply, read through and complete the Wall Service Award application. Additional information about the award and a partial list of past winners can be found on the Wall Service Award webpage.
2025 Social Innovator in Residence
The Social Innovator in Residence program is designed to provide world-class social innovators time and space for respite, renewal, and inspiration. Through a range of programming and activities, the social innovator will have the opportunity to continue their primary social innovation work and engage with the community to create lasting social impact. During the five- to seven-week residency in fall 2025, the innovator will also serve as an inspiration and mentor for Grinnell College students.
This innovator program is open to all individuals, including Grinnell College alumni. Applications for the Social Innovator in Residence program are underway. Additional information about the residency, criteria, and application process can be found on the program web story.
Monica Sanders, founder of The Undivide Project, is the inaugural recipient of the Social Innovator in Residence Program. She will be in Grinnell this fall from Sept. 3-Oct. 18.
— by Jeremy Shapiro