For fifty years, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center has been at the forefront of educating the American public about the intellectual, cultural, and political diversity of the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience.
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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR GRADUATE & UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
The UCLA Asian American Studies Center invites student nominations for the 2024-2025 Don T. Nakanishi Award for Outstanding Engaged Scholarship.
Through the generosity of UCLA faculty, students, staff, and alumni as well as community leaders, an endowment was established that honors the late Professor Emeritus Don T. Nakanishi, who served on the UCLA faculty for thirty-five years and who ably directed the Asian American Studies Center (1990-2010). Among his invaluable contributions to Asian American Studies, Professor Nakanishi co-founded two national publications: Amerasia Journal (1971) and AAPI Nexus Journal: Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy, Practice, and Community (2003). Professor Nakanishi published widely in the areas of Asian American politics and education, mentored thousands of students, and provided professional and community-based service locally, nationally, and internationally.
Professor Nakanishi is widely recognized for developing the fields of Asian American political and educational research. His groundbreaking work transformed ethnic and intellectual diversity on American campuses. A former national president of the Association of Asian American Studies, Professor Nakanishi’s career also redefined the relationship between scholarship and community service at UCLA, serving as a beacon for challenging dubious academic customs.
The 2024-2025 Nakanishi Award, consisting of two $2,500 cash prizes, will acknowledge two deserving UCLA students, one graduate and one undergraduate, for their outstanding practical research, publications, teaching, training, and/or educational service (e.g., applied-research projects assisting underserved populations, conference presentations, internship, volunteer, or other examples of building bridges between campus to community) to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The award rotates annually between faculty and students. The faculty award will be given during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Eligibility: Any current UCLA graduate and undergraduate student may be nominated for the award. The award is open to students from all departments across the UCLA Campus who have demonstrated Don T. Nakanishi's legacy for developing and strengthening the fields of Asian American Studies, Pacific Islander Studies, education and service to local and national Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Nominations are due by Friday, May 30, 2025