About DOV Awards. Each year, we recognize recipients of the following awards:
Bonnie S. Fisher Victimology Career Award
Robert Jerin Book of the Year Award
Faculty Researcher of the Year Award
Faculty Teacher of the Year Award
Graduate Student Papers of the Year Awards
Practitioner/Activist of the Year Award
*Please note that previous award winners are ineligible to be considered for the same award.
Recipients of each award will be made aware that they have won the award by early October. Award recipients will be honored at the annual DOV business meeting in November and receive a plaque. With the exception of the Practitioner/Activist of the Year Award winner, all award recipients must be members of the Division of Victimology. Nominees (with the exception of the Practitioner/Activist of the Year Award) who are not current members of the Division of Victimology will not be considered by the committee.
Award Descriptions and Required Nomination Materials
Bonnie S. Fisher Victimology Career Award. This award will be given to a scholar who has made a significant contribution in the area of victimology over the course of their lifetime. This may be in terms of scholarship or teaching. Nominations must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 3 pages), and 2) a current CV for the nominee. In the letter, the nominator must provide an explanation and evidence for why the nominee’s lifetime achievements are significant contributions to the discipline of victimology.
Robert Jerin Book of the Year Award. This award will be given to the author(s) of a book published in the previous five years (i.e., 2021-2026) that has had a major impact on the field of victimology and/or serves to highlight a key issue in the field. Nominations must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 2 pages), and 2) a description of the book and its relevance to the field of victimology. In the letter, the nominator must provide an explanation of why the book should be considered as a key text in the discipline of victimology.
Faculty Researcher of the Year Award. This award will be given to a scholar who has made a significant contribution in the area of victimology in the past two years (e.g., peer-reviewed publications or books published in 2024-2026). Nominations must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 3 pages), and 2) a current CV for the nominee. In the letter, the nominator must provide explanation and evidence for why the nominee’s research has made significant contributions to the discipline of victimology.
Faculty Teacher of the Year Award. This award will be given to a teacher who shows excellence in teaching victimology and/or victimology-related courses taught during the past two academic years (i.e., 2024-2025, 2025-2026). Nominations must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 3 pages), and 2) evidence of teaching excellence. In the letter, the nominator must provide explanation and evidence for why the nominee’s teaching is excellent. Evidence of teaching excellence could include (but is not limited to) letters from students or examples of assignments.
Practitioner/Activist of the Year Award. This award will be given to a practitioner or activist who has made a significant impact on the lives of victims or those who work with victims. Nomination must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 2 pages), and 2) examples of impact on the lives of victims or those who work with victims. In the letter, the nominator must provide an explanation as to how this practitioner has made a difference in the lives of victims. Examples of impact can include (but are not limited to) papers/publications, reports, expert testimony, organizational leadership, statements from victims, etc.
Graduate Student Papers of the Year Award. Two awards will be given to graduate students for an exceptional, published or unpublished, paper on a victimology-related topic that was written or published during 2025-2026. Nominees must be current graduate students during the Fall 2026 semester. Faculty co-authors are allowed, however, the graduate student must be lead/first author and any faculty co-authors must be in an advisory role only. Graduate student award recipients will receive $300 each (if there are multiple student co-authors on a selected paper, the $300 will be split evenly among them). Nomination must include: 1) one letter of support (1 to 2 pages), and 2) a PDF of the paper. In the letter, the nominator must provide a statement explaining why he/she believes the paper makes a contribution to the discipline of victimology.
Deadline for Nominations is Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
Please contact Dr. Brendan Lantz (blantz@fsu.edu) and Mackenzie Kile (mjk047@shsu.edu) with any questions or issues submitting materials.
*Please combine multiple documents into one PDF for submission.