The Public Address Division of NCA solicits nominations for the Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award honoring outstanding published scholarship in public address.  The award will be presented at the business meeting of the Public Address Division in Philadelphia, in November 2016. Scholarship published in 2015 is eligible for consideration.  The Award recognizes individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the study of public address.

Marie Hochmuth Nichols (right) was the 55th President of the Speech Association of America (now the National Communication Association) in 1969, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Speech from 1962 to 1965, and recipient of the Speech Communication Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1976.  Her scholarship concentrated on rhetorical theory, as she introduced the field to Kenneth Burke and I. A. Richards, and the criticism of public address. A list of previous Nichols Award recipients may be viewed at the PAD awards web site.

To be considered for the award, nominated authors must be members of the Public Address Division.  Single and co-authored, peer-reviewed scholarly books, originally written in English or translated into English from other languages, are eligible for this award.

Nominations must include: (1) a letter of nomination that identifies the scholarly work, specifies the publisher and the publication date, and provides a detailed rationale for why the work should receive the award and (2) three copies of the work being nominated.  These materials cannot be returned.

The criteria to be used in selecting the recipient include (1) the importance of the work in extending or altering our understanding of public address and/or rhetorical practice; (2) originality; (3) quality of research; (4) intellectual creativity; and (5) quality of writing.

Members of the Awards Committee who feel that they are unable to be impartial in judging any nominee will recuse themselves from discussion of that nominee.

Deadline for receipt of materials is March 31, 2016.

Send nomination materials to:

Professor Leah Ceccarelli
Department of Communication
Box 353740
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3740