Nomination and Selection
The next nomination window will open in early 2025.
Nominations are reviewed by a three-person committee including the Chancellor and the Assistant Provost for Administration. The Committee reviews nominations against the award criteria.
About the Award
Nominees for this award must demonstrate special service of outstanding merit to the Institute, making significant and lasting contributions to the MIT community. These efforts can be broad in scope, affecting many departments, units, or individuals, and/or significant in duration.
Eligible nominees should have sustained contributions to the Institute for at least ten years. Examples include serving as the chair of a cross-departmental task force that advanced MIT's mission or nurturing a new student program. Past recipients typically have a substantial portfolio of service to MIT.
Eligibility for the Gordon Y. Billard Award
- Nominees must be current faculty or staff members who have contributed to the Institute for ten years or more.
- Alternatively, nominees may have served or currently serve in an MIT-affiliated role and have made contributions to the Institute for at least ten years. The nominator is responsible for providing documentation that confirms an affiliate nominee's years of service to MIT and demonstrates how the individual made lasting contributions. This documentation must be submitted by the nomination deadline. A recommended form of documentation is a letter from a senior leader or DLCI HR director that verifies the content of the work and the required years of service.
- All nominees will be reviewed for eligibility before moving to Committee review.
- Nominations may include input from multiple nominators but must not exceed six pages.
Award presentation
The award is presented at the MIT Excellence Awards + Collier Medal celebration in June each year.
Prior recipients
2024
Deborah G. Douglas
Senior Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum
Associate Provost for the Arts
Ronald Hasseltine
Assistant Provost for Research Administration
Office of the Vice President for Research
Richard K. Lester
Vice Provost for International Activities
Japan Steel Industry Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, School of Engineering
2022
- Edward Moriarty, Edgerton Center
- Emma Teng, Global Studies and Languages
2021
- Dennis Collins, Housing & Residential Services, DSL
- Rick Danheiser, Chemistry
- Kristala Prather, Chemical Engineering
2020
- Lawrence Gallagher, Open Learning, Supporting Unit, MVP
- Kimberly Bernard, CAPD
2019
- Mark DiVincenzo, Vice President and General Counsel
- Professor Sheila Widnall, AeroAstro
2018
- Chris Terman, Senior Lecturer, EECS
- Stu Schmill '86, Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services, OVC
2017
- Gayle Gallagher, Institute Affairs
- Ian Waitz, School of Engineering
2016
- Alyce Johnson, Human Resources
- Jagruti Patel ‘97, Chancellor's Office
- Professor John Ochsendorf, Architecture/CEE
2015
- John P. Dunbar, Assistant to the Provost for Space Planning
- Professor Adèle Naudé Santos, Architecture
2014
- Claude Canizares
- Dorothy Mark
- Roger Mark
2013
- Professor Suzanne Berger, Political Science
- Daniel E. Hastings, Dean for Undergraduate Education
2012
- Professor J. Kim Vandiver, Dean for Undergraduate Research, Mechanical Engineering
Who was Gordon Y. Billard?
Gordon Y. Billard, an expert in finance and investing, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1900. He prepared at the University of Cincinnati for two years before coming to MIT, where he earned an S.B. in business administration in 1924. He subsequently pursued additional education in business, finance, and law at New York University. Mr. Billard was a partner at J.R. Williston & Company of New York and worked as a statistician, analyst, and financial consultant for many years. Shortly before his death in 1983, he established the Gordon Y. Billard Fund in memory of his mother. The fund provides for the Gordon Y. Billard Award and endows several professorships at the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management.
Questions?
Please email billard-award@mit.edu.