K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award
Forecasted
K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award supports graduate students with recognition and professional resources to honor leadership promise in equity, community engagement, and teaching innovation.
Funder: Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Due Dates (Anticipated): October 2027 (Nomination deadline)
Funding Amounts: Complimentary Annual Meeting registration, one-year AAC&U individual membership, and one-year Liberal Education subscription; no monetary award
Summary: Recognizes graduate students with future higher education leadership potential and commitments to equity, community engagement, and teaching innovation.
Key Information: Nominees must pursue a doctorate or a terminal master’s degree and be nominated by a faculty member or administrator.
Description
The K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, administered by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), recognizes graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education. It emphasizes academic innovation in equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning, with recipients selected for integrating these commitments into their graduate work. Students across academic disciplines who plan careers in higher education may be nominated.
The award provides recognition at AAC&U’s Annual Meeting and professional resources rather than a scholarship or monetary award. It honors K. Patricia Cross, Professor Emerita of Higher Education at the University of California–Berkeley, whose scholarship advanced understanding of students, their needs, and educators’ responsibilities toward them.
