RCSA Launches Robert Holland Jr. Award
Research Corporation for Science Advancement has launched a new award to recognize and welcome outstanding senior scientists with diverse perspectives and backgrounds into the Cottrell Scholar community: the Robert Holland Jr. Award for Research Excellence and Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The award honors the legacy of the late Robert Holland Jr., an engineer and corporate executive who served as a member of RCSA’s Board of Directors from 1997-2010.
Holland, who died in late 2021, was a lifelong proponent of educational opportunities for economically marginalized and historically excluded groups of young people. He was the first Black partner at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and, as CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, the first African American CEO of a major U.S. corporation. He was a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees and a Life Trustee of Spelman College. Read more about him.
"Growing up during segregation, Robert Holland committed much of his life to opening doors for others,” said RCSA President & CEO Daniel Linzer. “His RCSA family is delighted to honor his memory by opening doors for outstanding teacher-scholars to join the Cottrell Scholar community at a time when broader perspectives are critically needed to shape the future of science.”
The Holland Award program will begin in 2023, and each recipient will be given $5,000 for personal use. For the inaugural year, RCSA will consider conferring more than one Holland Award.
Holland Award recipients will be invited to join the Cottrell Scholar community, bringing important new voices and ideas to the annual Cottrell Scholar conference and Cottrell Scholar Collaborative teams. RCSA has funded a number of collaborative initiatives proposed by Cottrell Scholars to address diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Cottrell Scholars proposed the Holland Award as a way to strengthen these and future initiatives by bringing into the community senior scholars with direct and practical experience for achieving the greatest impact. Holland awardees will also be eligible to apply or be nominated for all Cottrell Plus awards, including SEED, STAR, IMPACT, and Cottrell Postbac Awards.
Robert Holland Jr. Award nominations may be made by October 10, 2022, by any Cottrell Scholar. Nominees should have earned tenure in chemistry, physics, or astronomy at U.S. or Canadian colleges or universities, in addition to having a record of research excellence and a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Nominations from liberal arts and minority-serving institutions, as well as research universities, are encouraged.
"Cottrell Scholars have been innovating new and more inclusive approaches to science education for years,” said Senior Program Director Silvia Ronco. “To continue these sustained efforts, Cottrell Scholars seek to strengthen senior leadership diversity in the Cottrell community to lead the conversation, become mentors and role models, and foster connections that will help make the community as vibrant and inclusive as it can be.”
The Holland Award is part of RCSA’s continued commitment to catalyze groundbreaking science by engaging in its programming outstanding scientists from a wide range of backgrounds, institutions, and life experiences.
Linzer said Holland’s legacy as an advocate of greater opportunity and diversity in STEM education will live on through the award as it honors the achievements and leadership of senior scientists and strengthens the Cottrell Scholar community.
"Cottrell Scholars are the action arm of the foundation,” he said. “We hope that this award will empower their work and give it greater impact.”
