UT Knoxville Establishes Keene Award for Excellence in Technical Communication

Michael L. Keene, 2004 recipient of the Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication, lead editor for the STC publication Education in Technical Communication: Academic Programs That Work, and a lifelong active and contributing member of STC, passed away in February. You can view his obituary here.

To honor his contributions to University of Tennessee Knoxville and to technical communication, the English Department at UT Knoxville has established the Keene Award for Excellence in Technical Communication. An award of $1000 will be given out annually.

The award will be open to all applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, disability, age, or veteran status, subject to the following criteria:

  1. Applicants must currently be enrolled at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
  2. Applicants must be pursuing a major in English with a concentration in Technical Communication or in Rhetoric & Writing.
  3. While enrolled as students at UT Knoxville, applicants must demonstrate excellence in technical communication through their coursework and in other ways (such as service to professional societies, community, journals, research projects; contributions to departmental initiatives; conference participation; publications, etc.).
  4.  When choosing the Award recipient, the Keene Award Committee may consider, in addition to demonstrations of excellence as described above, the applicant’s financial need.
  5. . Applicants may receive the Keene Award only once.

The UT Knoxville English department is seeking donations to help fund the award, with a goal of reaching $25,000. Gifts can be made using the PDF form here, or donors may also make gifts securely online at  http://giving.utk.edu/keene.

Leave a Reply