Nominate

The McGraw Prize in Pre-K–12 Education recognizes leaders whose ideas and actions are making a significant difference for children, educators, schools, and communities.

Nominees may be improving teaching and learning, expanding opportunity, addressing persistent gaps in student outcomes, creating stronger pathways for students, developing new approaches to longstanding challenges, or changing how schools and systems work. Their impact may begin in a classroom, school, district, organization, or community, but the strongest candidates offer ideas and approaches that others can learn from.

This is not simply a lifetime achievement award. The McGraw Prize recognizes impact, not simply title, visibility, or length of service. We are looking for leaders who have taken on important challenges in education and can point to real evidence that their work is making a difference for students and the people and systems that support them.

Who might you nominate?

Think about people who have identified an important challenge facing students or schools and found a better way forward.

They might have improved student learning or other outcomes; expanded opportunities for students who have historically had fewer of them; strengthened teaching or school leadership; created new models, programs, or tools; built effective partnerships between schools and communities; or led significant change across a district, network, or system.

Nominees can come from many roles and settings. What matters most is not where they work or the title they hold, but what they have changed, the difference that change has made for students, and what others can learn from their work.

Nomination Criteria

• Leadership- ​How has the nominee led change in a classroom, school, district, organization, community, or across the broader field? What have they been able to accomplish that might not otherwise have happened?
• Innovation- ​What is distinctive about the nominee’s work? Describe the idea, practice, program, model, or approach they introduced or advanced and the problem it was designed to solve.
• Impact- What changed because of the nominee’s work? Who has benefited, and how? Whenever possible, include evidence of results, such as stronger student outcomes, expanded opportunities, improved teaching and learning, greater access, or broader changes in schools or systems.
• Influence- ​How has the nominee’s work influenced others in Pre-K–12 education? Has it changed practice, inspired new thinking, been adopted or adapted elsewhere, or provided a model that other educators, schools, or systems can learn from?

The McGraw Prize in Higher Education recognizes leaders whose ideas and actions are making a significant difference in higher education.

Nominees may be changing how students learn, expanding access and opportunity, improving student success, creating new pathways to and through college, rethinking how institutions operate, or developing new approaches that others can learn from and adapt.

This is not simply a lifetime achievement award. A nominee may have a long and distinguished career, but career longevity alone is not what the McGraw Prize recognizes. We are looking for leaders whose work has led to real change and whose ideas have the potential to shape the future of higher education.

Who might you nominate?

Think about people who have taken on an important challenge in higher education and found a better way forward.

They might have created a new model for teaching or learning, removed barriers for students, improved outcomes, opened new pathways to a degree or career, changed an institution or system, or developed an approach that has spread well beyond their own campus.

Nominees can come from many roles and many kinds of institutions. What matters most is not title, seniority, or length of service, but what the person has changed and the difference that change has made.

Nomination Criteria

• Leadership- How has the nominee led change within their institution, organization, or the broader field? What have they been able to accomplish that might not otherwise have happened?
• Innovation- What is distinctive about the nominee's work? Describe the idea, practice, program, or approach they introduced or advanced and the problem it was intended to solve.
• Impact- ​What changed because of the nominee's work? Who has benefited, and how? Whenever possible, include evidence of results, such as improved student outcomes, expanded opportunities, increased access, institutional change, or adoption of the work by others.
• Influence- ​How has the nominee's work influenced others in higher education? Has it inspired new thinking, changed practice, been replicated elsewhere, or provided a model others can use?

Recognizing transformative learning beyond the classroom.

At a time of extraordinary technological, economic, and social change, lifelong learning has become essential to helping people adapt, thrive, and participate fully in their communities and the world. The Lifelong Learning Prize honors leaders who are finding powerful new ways to make that learning possible.

Nominees may be advancing adult or continuing education, workforce development, apprenticeships and career pathways, professional learning, community or public education, digital learning, or other approaches that help people gain knowledge and skills throughout their lives.

The McGraw Prize recognizes impact, not simply a lifetime of achievement. A nominee may have a long and distinguished career, but length of service alone is not what the McGraw Prize celebrates. We are looking for leaders whose work has opened new opportunities for learning, reached people in meaningful ways, or introduced ideas and approaches that others can learn from.

Lifelong learning can take many forms.

Recent recipients show the breadth of the category. Michael Webber, the 2026 recipient, has expanded public understanding of energy and environmental issues through continuing education, books, television, and educational resources. Frederic Bertley, the 2025 recipient, has extended STEM learning beyond traditional classrooms through museum education, hands-on outreach, and media. Robert Lerman, the 2024 recipient, has championed apprenticeships as an alternative and complement to traditional college education.

Who might you nominate?

Think about people who are creating new ways for others to continue learning throughout their lives.

They might have transformed how adults learn; created new pathways between education and careers; expanded apprenticeships or workforce learning; brought learning into museums, communities, or other public settings; used technology or media to reach new learners; or developed entirely new ways for people to gain knowledge and skills.

Nominees do not need to work at a school, college, or university. What matters most is what they have changed, who has benefited, and what others can learn from their work.

Nomination Criteria

• Leadership- ​How has the nominee led change and expanded opportunities for people to learn throughout their lives? What have they been able to accomplish that might not otherwise have happened?
• Innovation- What is distinctive about the nominee’s work? Describe the idea, program, model, or approach they introduced or advanced and the need it was designed to address.
• Impact- ​What changed because of the nominee’s work? Who has benefited, and how? Whenever possible, include evidence of results, such as people reached, opportunities created, barriers removed, skills developed, or broader changes in practice.
• Influence- How has the nominee’s work influenced others? Has it inspired new thinking, changed practice, been adopted or adapted elsewhere, or created a model that others can learn from?