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2026 SEMC Leadership Awards and travel scholarships

Nominations/Applications for 2026 Leadership Awards and Travel Scholarships will open in early spring 2026  

Blue polka-dotted background, with a graphic of a trophy and the words “SEMC AWARDS” centered. The SEMC logo is also at the bottom.

SEMC Annual Awards are given in Recognition of Innovation, Service and Leadership BY Museum Professionals

                The nomination period for 2025 Awards has closed. Thank you to all who submitted. Award announcements will be made in early fall.

Read about the 2025 Award Recipients 

The SEMC Awards Committee needs your help to identify and honor outstanding colleagues who have helped shape the world of museums. 2025 award recipients were honored at the Annual Awards Luncheon on October 22, 2025 in Montgomery, Alabama. The 2025 Awards Committee encourages all SEMC members to consider worthy friends, colleagues and mentors who, through their work with museums and their activities in museum associations, have provided exemplary service to the southeastern museum community. 

2024 Leadership Award Recipients at SEMC2024

2025 PROFESSIONAL AWARDS are OFFERED IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES

JAMES R. SHORT AWARD - Established by SEMC in 1981, the purpose of this award is to recognize individuals who have given a lifetime – 20 years or more – of distinguished service to the museum profession, with a significant portion of that service at a museum within the SEMC region. The nominee need not be currently employed nor living in the region. Service to the museum profession through SEMC and other museum associations, as well as employment service, will be considered in the nomination process. Nominations of eligible individuals who have retired or will retire within the year preceding or following the SEMC Annual Meeting are especially appropriate.  

Past James R. Short Award Recipients


George McDaniel received the 2024 James. R. Short Award

MUSEUM LEADERSHIP AWARD – Initiated in 1994, this award recognizes mid-career museum professionals who have shown significant advancement within the profession by leadership in museum activities at their institution, within the museum profession as a whole, and especially in the southeast region. Award eligibility requires ten years of experience as a museum staff member and a minimum of five years immediate past tenure with a museum in the SEMC region.   
Past Museum Leadership Award Recipients

EMERGING MUSEUM PROFESSIONALS AWARD – Inaugurated in 2007, this award recognizes emerging professionals who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in museum activities at their institution, within the museum profession as a whole, and especially in the southeast region. Award eligibility requires less than ten years of experience as a museum staff member and a minimum of two years immediate past tenure with a museum in the SEMC region.  
Past Emerging Museum Professional Award Recipients

OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE MUSEUM PROFESSION AWARD - Initiated in 1999, this award recognizes a leader with 10 years or more of service to an allied or affiliated professional organization. Such a leader will have assisted the museum profession in areas such as program organization, development of grant opportunities, creation of historic/cultural designations and long term cultural development. The nominee must have direct responsibility, and the programs must have impact on a broad scale – statewide or regionally.    
Past Outstanding Service to the Museum Profession Recipients

DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTOR AWARD -Initiated in 1999, this award recognizes a non-museum professional who has contributed their leadership expertise, financial support or collections support over a period of 20 years or more to a museum or the museum field in the SEMC region. The nominee has shown distinction in leading/moving an institution or museum-field organization to a recognized position of leadership in collections, programs and/or exhibitions in the SEMC region.  

Past Distinguished Contributor Award Recipients

Timia Thompson, recipient of the 2024 Emerging Museum Professional Award.

SEMC 2025 Annual Meeting Travel Scholarships

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Designed to encourage participation of museum professionals at all levels in the Annual Meeting.  Valued at $900.00, the award covers annual meeting registration (at the 2025 early bird rate) and a travel stipend of $500.00. Applicants will have shown evidence that the annual meeting program answers needs and/or concerns of the applicant, history of involvement in museums and dedication to museums in the SEMC region.  

the Application period for 2026 travel scholarships will open in Spring 2026 

applicants will be notified of the outcome by july 31, 2026

For 2026, SEMC is pleased to offer travel scholarships in the following categories:

  • Student
  • Entry-Level Professional (less than five years in the field)
  • Seasoned Museum Professional (more than ten years in the field)
  • General Museum Professional
  • Museum Volunteer 
  • African American Museum Professional
  • Museum Professional from the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico ($1,000 travel stipend)
  • Small Museum Professional (institution annual operating budget under $500,000)
  • President's Scholarship (covers conference registration only; applicant must live within 100 miles of the conference location)

Questions about 2026 Annual Meeting Travel Scholarships? Contact Deb Van Horn, 2026 Scholarship Committee Chair at: deborah.vanhorn@gmail.com

Conference Information

Competition Information

Scholarships and Awards Information