TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama announced that Dr. Darren Surman, assistant professor in the Honors College, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Sam Schuman Award for Excellence at a Four-Year Institution by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC).
The award recognizes Surman’s outstanding contributions to the honors community at a four-year institution.
“Darren’s leadership and vision have had a transformative impact on honors education at UA and beyond,” said Dr. Tiffany Sippial, dean of the Honors College. “His dedication to innovation and to our students’ success truly exemplifies the spirit of the National Collegiate Honors Council. We’re proud to see his outstanding contributions recognized at the national level.”
The award is named in honor of Dr. Samuel Schuman, an accomplished scholar, professor and administrator who died in 2014. Schuman authored “Beginning in Honors” and was a longtime presenter at NCHC conferences and workshops. He was known for his devotion to honors education and to mentoring both students and colleagues. NCHC continues to commemorate his legacy with the annual award.
“I am deeply honored to have been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Sam Schuman Award,” said Dr. Darren Surman. “As Dr. Schuman said, ‘Teachers need to love their subject matter, and they need to love their students, and they need to love bringing them together.’ I get to enact those three loves in The University of Alabama’s Honors College every single day, and I can’t imagine a more rewarding place to do it. I am grateful to Dean Tiffany Sippial, Dean Cassander Smith and Dean W. Ross Bryan for their unwavering support, and I am grateful to my students who teach me every day.”
Surman will be recognized during the NCHC’s 60th Annual Conference in San Diego, California, at the Awards Ceremony on Nov. 8.
About the National Collegiate Honors Council
Founded in 1966, the National Collegiate Honors Council is an educational organization dedicated to supporting institutions, professionals and students in collegiate honors education worldwide. With nearly 700 member institutions and several hundred individual members, NCHC impacts more than 330,000 honors students. The organization provides resources, training opportunities and collaborative events to strengthen honors programs and curricula. Students also have access to scholarships and exclusive programming through NCHC and its members.
About The University of Alabama honors College
The University of Alabama Honors College is dedicated to fostering a dedicated community of scholars, committed to nurturing high-performing and high-potential students who, through critical thinking, ethical citizenship, and collaborative leadership, become engaged leaders within their chosen fields and beyond.