Awards and Leadership Recognition

The NAFSA International Education Award for Leadership and Collaboration honors the contributions of an international educator to international exchange on a global scale.

This award recognizes a current NAFSA member who has shown leadership in associational activities or sustained stewardship of the field.

This award honors a NAFSA member who has shown sustained commitment to this mission by advocating for the interests of under-represented populations. 

Life Membership is awarded each year to NAFSAns in recognition of their career achievements in advancing the goals of the Association and of international education and exchange.

The Rising Star Young Leader Award is given annually in recognition of a professional who has impacted the field of international education during the first five years of the recipient's area of work.

The Advocate of the Year Award is an annual award presented at NAFSA Advocacy Day to recognize an international education advocate who has excelled in grassroots advocacy.

With the Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization and the NAFSA Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award, NAFSA recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that are making significant, well-planned, well-executed, and well-documented progress toward comprehensive internationalization—especially those using innovative and creative approaches.

The John and Anne Hudzik Prize for Sustained Leadership in Higher Education Internationalization is awarded to individuals who have made sustained contributions to internationalization in areas including scholarship, administrative leadership, community engagement, and education.

Education Abroad

• Lily von Klemperer Award
• Education Abroad Leadership Award

International Enrollment Management

• Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Enrollment Management

International Student and Scholar Services

• Hugh M. Jenkins Award for Excellence in Community Programming
• Knowledge Community for International Student and Scholar Services (KC ISSS) Award of Excellence

Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship

• Innovative Research in International Education Award