Recognition Awards

Our Recognition Awards Program were established as a means of identifying, honoring, and documenting the contributions of outstanding LGBTQ+ science, engineering and technology professionals, as well as corporations, academic institutions, and businesses that support LGBTQ+ professionals in the fields of science and technology.

We are now accepting nominations for the 2023 awards. Nominations are due December 15, 2022, 11:59pm Eastern Time. The nomination links are below each category description below.


Award Descriptions
Walt Westman Award

Named after one of NOGLSTP’s founders, this award is the highest national award given to a NOGLSTP Member who has shown dedication and commitment to the advancement of NOGLSTP’s mission. This prestigious award recognizes the unselfish and outstanding contributions of the honoree, whose activities — carried on continuously over a period of years — have brought honor and esteem to the Organization by their very character. The recipient symbolizes, as did Walt Westman, the ideal role model to LGBTQ+ engineers, scientists, and educators today by preaching aloud that “it can be done”. Previous award recipients: Rochelle Diamond (2004); Michael Parga (2006); Christopher Bannochie (2007); Amy Ross (2012); John Burke (2014); Barbara Belmont (2017), Lauren Esposito (2019), Danielle Cherniak (2021)
Learn more about Walt Westman and read some awardee acceptance speeches

Submit a nomination for the Walt Westman award here.


LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year Award

This award is reserved for the LGBTQ+ Scientist who has made outstanding contributions to their field, and recognizes the awardee for sustained contributions in design, management, or research. The nomination form should include the technical or societal significance of these contributions or achievements. The nominee need not be well known to the science public at large, and need not be a NOGLSTP member. Previous award recipients: Larry Wagner (2004); Sim Aberson (2005); Kerry Sieh (2006); Carolyn Bertozzi (2007); Arnold Zwicky (2008); James Nowick (2009); Jesse Michael Bering (2010); Bill Hendrix(2011); Martin Lo (2012); Nergis Mavalvala (2014); Matthew McGill (2017); Dannelle Tanner (2018), Jon Freeman (2019), Sean Whelan (2020), Joseph Romano (2021), Jane Rigby (2022)

Submit a nomination for the LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year award here.


LGBTQ+ Engineer of the Year Award

This award is reserved for the LGBTQ+ Engineer who has made outstanding contributions to their field, and recognizes the awardee for sustained contributions in design, production, management, or research. The nomination form should include the technical or societal significance of these contributions or achievements. The nomineee need not be well known to the science/engineering public at large, and need not be a NOGLSTP member. Previous award recipients: Lynn Conway (2005); Peter Ventzek (2006); Tim Gill (2007); Michael Steinberg (2008); Anthony J. Gingiss (2009); Jay Keasling (2010); William Huffman (2011); Charles Lickel (2013); Christine Bland (2014); Wolfgang Sigmund (2017); David Taubenheim (2018), Arianna Morales (2019), Jonathan Dell (2020), Guillermo Díaz-Fañas (2021), Bree Fram (2022)

Submit a nomination for the LGBTQ+ Engineer of the Year award here.


LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year Award

This award is reserved for the LGBTQ+ Educator who has enabled significant growth for LGBTQ+ students in science or technology – through teaching, counseling, advocacy, role modeling, or other educational roles. The nomination form should include the significance of these contributions or achievements. The nominee need not be well known to the science public at large, need not be a NOGLSTP member, and may be a secondary or post-secondary educator.Previous award recipients: Denice Denton (2006); Karl Mauzey (2007); Michael Falk (2008); Virginia Uribe (2009); Donna Riley (2010); Ron Buckmire (2011); Mark Pope (2012); Timothy Atherton (2014); Anthony Butterfield (2017); Biswajit “Bish” Paul (2018), Benny Chan (2019), Sara Brownell (2020), Miles Ott (2021), Luis Leyva (2022)

Submit a nomination for the LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year award here.


National Institution/Organization Award

These awards are given to the institution/organization which has demonstrated outstanding support for NOGLSTP, its programs and objectives.

The selections will be based upon the following criteria:

  • assistance in meeting NOGLSTP’s goals,
  • enhancing the achievements of their LGBTQ+ employees, and
  • dedication and commitment to advancement of NOGLSTP’s growth

American Association for the Advancement of Science (2004)
Queer Science (2020)


National Corporate Award

These awards are given to the corporation or company which has demonstrated outstanding support for NOGLSTP, its programs and objectives. The selections will be based upon the following criteria:

  • assistance in meeting NOGLSTP’s goals,
  • enhancing the achievements of their LGBTQ+ employees, and
  • dedication and commitment to advancement of NOGLSTP’s growth

Previous award recipient: Raytheon Company (2005)


Nomination Procedures

  • The candidate must meet the criteria as stated in the award description.
  • To submit a nomination, follow the link for nomination submission above and complete the online form. You will need to provide:
    • The nominee’s contact information.
    • The nominee’s CV (upload)
    • Up to five letters of support describing the merits of the nominee, including the impact of their professional and/or community contributions.
    • The nominator’s contact information.
    • You can revise your submission by saving the link provided at the end of the form.