Recognition of Innovation, Service, and Leadership in Museum Professionals

The SEMC Awards Committee invites your nominations to help recognize and honor outstanding colleagues who have shaped the museum field. Awards will be presented on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, during the SEMC 2026 Awards Luncheon and Roundtable in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The SEMC Awards Committee and Council encourage all SEMC members to reflect on the colleagues and mentors whose contributions, through their work in museums and engagement with professional associations, have demonstrated exemplary service and lasting impact across the southeastern museum community.

JAMES R. SHORT AWARD - Established by SEMC in 1981, the purpose of this award is to recognize individuals who have given a lifetime of distinguished service to the museum profession, with a significant portion of that service at a museum within the SEMC region. The nominee need not be currently employed or living in the region. Service to the museum profession through SEMC and other museum associations, as well as employment service, will be considered in the nomination process. Nominations of eligible individuals who have retired or will retire within the year preceding or following the SEMC Annual Meeting are especially appropriate.

MUSEUM LEADERSHIP AWARD – Initiated in 1994, this award recognizes mid-career museum professionals who have shown significant advancement within the profession by leadership in museum activities at their institution, within the museum profession as a whole, and especially in the southeast region. Award eligibility requires ten years of experience as a museum staff member and a minimum of five years of immediate past tenure with a museum in the SEMC region.

EMERGING MUSEUM PROFESSIONALS AWARD – Inaugurated in 2007, this award recognizes emerging professionals who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in museum activities at their institution, within the museum profession as a whole, and especially in the southeast region. Award eligibility requires less than 10 years of experience as a museum staff member and at least 2 years of immediate past tenure at a museum in the SEMC region.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE MUSEUM PROFESSION AWARD - Initiated in 1999, this award recognizes a leader with 10 years or more of service to an allied or affiliated professional organization. Such a leader will have assisted the museum profession in areas such as program organization, development of grant opportunities, creation of historic/cultural designations, and long-term cultural development. The nominee must have direct responsibility, and the programs must have an impact on a broad scale – statewide or regionally.

DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTOR AWARD -Initiated in 1999, this award recognizes a non-museum professional who has contributed their leadership expertise, financial support, or collections support for 20 years or more to a museum or the museum field in the SEMC region. The nominee has shown distinction in leading/moving an institution or museum-field organization to a recognized position of leadership in collections, programs, and/or exhibitions in the SEMC region.

To nominate someone for recognition, please include:
a) The name, address, and telephone number of the nominee
b) The award, of the five defined on this page, for which you are nominating the person
c) A summary of the nominee’s accomplishments and an explanation of why they should receive this award – up to one page of narrative, typed, double-spaced.
d) One-page letters in support of the nominee from two ‘seconding’ museum professionals and relevant support materials, such as the nominee’s current resume, previous honors, etc.
e) Your name as nominator, plus address and telephone; date of submittal.


For questions or further information, please contact Zinnia Willits at 843-224-0876 or zwillits@semcdirect.net or Michelle Schulte, 2026 Awards Chair, at mschulte@lsu.edu

Submit the complete award nomination ONLINE by June 30, 2026, or send it to: SEMC, PO Box 550746, Atlanta, GA 30355.

Submit any additional letters of support to Zinnia Willits, SEMC Executive Director, PO Box 550746, Atlanta, GA 30355 or zwillits@semcdirect.net