Awards

The Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Award is the highest honor bestowed by the POD Network. It recognizes long-standing members who have made selfless and sustained contributions to the organization and to the field of educational development. The award is presented at the annual POD Network Conference.

Bob Pierleoni was an early and influential member of the POD Network. He served on the Core Committee, co-chaired the 1985 conference in Lake Lawn, Wisconsin, and contributed actively to the organization’s early development. Bob brought more than leadership and expertise—he brought a spirit that helped define the culture of POD. His gentle humor, personal warmth, generosity, and deep commitment to collegial exchange made lasting contributions to the ethos of our community. This award honors members who carry that spirit forward.

The POD Innovation Award celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of POD Network members who develop and implement innovative ideas that advance educational development.

This award originated at the 1986 POD Network Conference in Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania, where Marilla Svinicki and Marilyn Leach introduced the Bright Idea Award (BIA). Their vision was to recognize and share innovative practices that improve teaching, learning, and faculty effectiveness in higher education. By encouraging the dissemination and adaptation of these ideas, they sought to inspire others to create impactful innovations of their own.

Since its inception, this tradition has continued at each annual conference, honoring participants who bring fresh, creative solutions to enhance teaching, learning, and faculty development. In 2004, the Bright Idea Award was renamed the POD Innovation Award, continuing its legacy of recognizing excellence and inspiring innovation in educational development.

The Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development was established in recognition of Robert J. Menges. Bob Menges was and remains an honored scholar. His long years of work and contributions to teaching and learning and faculty and educational development in higher education can be characterized by his spirit of caring consultation, active participation, and rigorous research. This award honors sessions by POD Network members at our annual conference that reflect Bob Menges’ values and approaches to his work. He loved to create studies out of ideas, and he practiced a wide variety of methodologies and designs. This recognition was established and first awarded at the 2000 POD Network conference in Vancouver.

The Christine A. Stanley Award for Diversity and Inclusion Research in Educational Development seeks to honor individuals who, like Dr. Christine Stanley (former POD Network president, 2000–2001, chair of the Diversity Committee from 1993–1999, and currently professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University), have demonstrated unequivocal commitment to advancing research on diversity and inclusion issues in educational development.