2025 AHS Award Nomination Deadline is December 31, 2025
The Agricultural History Society is accepting nominations for our annual awards through December 31, 2025. Please consider nominating your own work or that of a colleague.
Nominations are being accepted for the awards listed below. To submit a nomination, please follow the directions for the appropriate award. Please note that nominated books, articles, and dissertations should have a 2025 publication date.
Theodore Saloutos Memorial Award for the best book on U.S. agricultural history published in 2025. To nominate a book, please contact Owen Hyman (aghistoryawards@gmail.com) for instructions regarding the shipment of books to committee members.
Henry A. Wallace Award for the best book on any aspect (broadly interpreted) of agricultural history outside the U.S. published in 2025. To nominate a book, please contact Karen Senaga (aghistoryawards@gmail.com) for instructions regarding the shipment of books to committee members.
Wayne D. Rasmussen Award for the best article on agricultural history (broadly defined) not published in Agricultural History in 2025. To nominate an article, please e-mail a PDF file to Karen Senaga (aghistoryawards@gmail.com).
Gilbert C. Fite Dissertation Award for the best dissertation on agricultural history defended in 2025. To nominate a dissertation, please e-mail a PDF file of the dissertation to Owen Hyman (aghistoryawards@gmail.com) along with a letter of nomination.
James C. Giesen Teaching Excellence Award in Agricultural and Rural History for instruction at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. Any person teaching undergraduate and/or graduate courses in agricultural/rural history, broadly construed, is eligible for the award. This includes graduate students who are responsible for teaching courses independently (stand-alone teaching).
The Giesen Award winner will demonstrate:
Innovative techniques and assignments
Appropriate level of rigor
Understanding of the field through assigned readings, topics, and methodologies
Diversity of approaches and assessment, including diverse authorship of assigned readings
The application package, prepared as a single PDF file, will include:
Nominator’s letter (not to exceed 500 words)
Nominee’s reflective teaching statement on agricultural/rural history, broadly construed (not to exceed 1,000 words)
One letter of support from a current or former student
One letter of support from a faculty colleague
One syllabus from nominee’s course in agricultural/rural history, broadly construed
Additional supporting materials, which may include student evaluation(s) of instruction, secondary nomination letter(s), additional syllabus/syllabi, sample assignment(s), etc.
The Giesen Award Committee (composed of past winners) will adjudicate the competition. Please submit all materials for the Giesen Award to aghistorysociety@gmail.com as a single PDF document.
The Effland-Grim-Reid Award for Public Engagement in Agricultural History. The award recognizes an individual, group, or organization that makes a significant contribution to broad public understanding of agricultural history or demonstrates creativity and innovation in practice, either through an exceptional activity or for a body of work characterized by professionalism and leadership within one or more communities or institutions.
The award winner(s) will demonstrate:
Depth of historical understanding and the ability to communicate historical context to non-specialists while preserving essential details and complexity
Creativity in approach appropriate to the intended audience
Evidence of effectiveness appropriate to the activity
If the nomination is for a body of work, evidence of professionalism and leadership in promoting public engagement in the fields of agricultural and rural history
The application package, prepared as a single PDF file, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, will include:
Nominator’s letter (not to exceed 750 words) - self-nominations encouraged. The letter should describe the nature of the work undertaken, evidence of public engagement, and the work’s distinctive contribution to furthering public understanding of agricultural and rural history.
CV of applicant, limited to 2 pages (single spaced).
Additional supporting materials (limited to 2 pages), which may include webpage links, photographs of exhibitions or public programs, record of engagement with farmers or rural communities, archival collection/oral history repository created, historic structure reports, policy publications, etc.
The Effland-Grim-Reid Award Committee will adjudicate the competition. Please submit all materials to aghistorysociety@gmail.com as a single PDF document.
Questions about eligibility or submissions should be addressed to the 2025 Publication Awards Coordinators Karen Senaga and Owen Hyman (aghistoryawards@gmail.com) or Executive Secretary Wayne Anderson (aghistorysociety@gmail.com).