Honors and Awards

At the annual honors day service held near the end of the spring semester, Candler recognizes the many students who support the Candler community as volunteers and leaders. The following awards are presented to recognize outstanding student achievement.

Award for Academic Excellence

This award is given to the MDiv and MTS seniors who, in the opinion of the faculty, have achieved the highest academic excellence.

Boone M. Bowen Award

This award is given to the senior with the best record in biblical Hebrew.

Berta Radford and James T. Laney Sr. Award in Contextual Education

This award is given annually to a third-year MDiv student who has successfully completed both the first and second years of Contextual Education and whose engagement with the practices of ministry exemplifies H. Richard Niebuhr’s concern to do theology as simultaneous reflection and action, carried out within the personal and social context of love of God and neighbor.

Community Service Award

This award is presented to the graduating student who has given outstanding service to the Candler community.

Chad Davis Memorial Award

This award was established by Dr. Sara Mandell in memory of The Rev. James Chadwick Davis, a 1959 graduate of the Candler School of Theology. This award is given to the student who has done well in Old or New Testament courses.

Erskine-Smith-Moseley Award

This award was established to honor Candler’s first black faculty appointments. Noel Erskine, professor of theology and ethics, began his career at Candler in 1977. Luther Smith, professor emeritus of church and community, followed him in 1979. Romney Moseley, associate professor of theology and human development and assistant dean of academic affairs, joined them in 1982. The Erskine-Smith-Moseley Award is given annually to a student of the Black Church Studies Program who portrays prophetic and compassionate leadership.

Fellowship Seminarian Award

Presented to the United Methodist senior who displays outstanding leadership in worship and arts.

Frederick Buechner Award

This award was established by the Frederick Buechner Center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is given to the student who in the opinion of the faculty best exemplifies the gifts of imagination, creativity, and literary excellence in preaching that have been hallmarks of Buechner’s own preaching and writing.

Ruth Sewell Flowers Award

This award was given by Genevieve S. Shatford in memory of her sister. The award goes to the senior who has shown marked growth in ministerial qualifications during the three years in the school of theology.

Nolan B. Harmon Award

This award is given to the second-year student who has shown marked growth during the two years in the school of theology.

The Hoyt Hickman Award of the Order of St. Luke

This award honors Hoyt L. Hickman, OSL, who guided the worship reforms of The United Methodist Church for more than twenty-five years. It is presented to a senior who has made a significant contribution to the worship and prayer life of the school of theology through acts of liturgical leadership and pastoral care.

G. Ray Jordan Award

This award is presented to the senior who shows unusual promise of usefulness in ministry and who demonstrates excellence in integrating academic study with constructive leadership and service.

Mary Katherine (Myki) Mobley Memorial Award

This award is given to an MTS student who demonstrates both academic excellence and significant social concern.

Russell E. Richey Award

This award was established by Candler Dean Russell E. Richey and is presented to a Candler student who has demonstrated excellence in Wesleyan studies.

John W. Rustin Award

This award was established by the Kiwanis Club of Druid Hills. The award is given to the student who, in the opinion of the faculty, best exhibits the capacity for prophetic preaching.

James D. and Alice Slay Award

This award is given to a second-year student who exhibits promise for pastoral ministry through outstanding academic performance and achievement.

Charles O. Smith Jr. Scholarship

This award is presented to a rising senior who shows exceptional promise of service in ministry in the Baptist tradition.

John Owen Smith Award

This award was established by Bishop and Mrs. Smith in memory of their grandson, John Katzenmeyer. The award is presented to the senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, is best able to communicate faithfully and imaginatively the gospel through preaching.

Claude H. Thompson Award

This award was established by the 1971 senior class. The award is given to a student who demonstrates concern that the gospel of Christ come to concrete expression in the lives of men and women through acts of justice and reconciliation.

United Methodist First Career Seminary Award

This award is given to a United Methodist student for whom parish ministry will be a first career and who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship and leadership. Award guidelines are determined by the General Board of Higher Education and ministry of The United Methodist Church.

United Methodist Seminary Awards

These awards are given to second-year, full-time, degree-seeking United Methodist students who exhibit unusual promise of usefulness in the local parish and who demonstrate outstanding scholarship and leadership ability. Award guidelines are determined by the General Board of Higher Education and ministry of The United Methodist Church.

United Methodist Foundation for Christian Higher Education Award

These awards are presented to United Methodist juniors, middlers, and seniors who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship and leadership ability. Award guidelines are determined by the General Board of Higher Education and ministry of The United Methodist Church.

Pitts Theology Library Student Research Award

This award, established in 2021, is given annually at the Candler Honors Day Ceremony to a Candler student who demonstrates creativity in research, maturity in theological thought, and excellence in using library resources to mount an argument, all demonstrated through a submitted research project. Applicants will submit a single research paper or project, a work completed for Candler coursework in the current academic year. All documents should emailed to pittsresearchaward@emory.edu before the deadline.