Jay Coakley Service Excellence Award
About the Award
The Jay Coakley Service Excellence Award is presented at our annual meeting to an individual who has offered distinguished service and long-time contributions to NASSS and/or the area of the sociology of sport more generally.
Call for Nominees
Nominations close Friday July 31, 2026
The Jay Coakley Service Excellence Award is presented at our annual meeting to an individual who has offered distinguished service and long-time contributions to NASSS, and/or the area of the sociology of sport more generally.
To nominate someone, submit a one to two-page statement, in the form of a letter, about a nominee whom you believe is a worthy recipient of this award. The letter should describe in some detail the reasons why NASSS should recognize the recipient. Self-nominations are welcome.
Criteria
Criteria include, but are not limited to:
- Service to NASSS as an organization
- Scholarly impact on the field through the discipline of the sociology of sport
Nomination Process
Nominations may be submitted by an individual, or jointly by a group of individual NASSS members.
It is not required that the nominee or recipient be a NASSS member. Nor is service to the organization as an elected officer a sufficient or required criteria.
Submitting a Nomination
Please submit nomination letters to NASSS Past-President and Committee Chair, Jason Laurendeau, [email protected]
Nominations close Friday July 31, 2026
Previous Awardees
| 2025 | F. Michelle Richardson (Coppin State University) and Jeff Montez de Oca (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs) |
| 2024 | Jen McGovern (Monmouth University) |
| 2023 | Bob Case (Old Dominion University), Cheryl Cooky (Purdue University), and Michael Giardina (Florida State University) |
| 2021 & 2022 | Not Awarded |
| 2020 | Billy Hawkins (University of Houston) |
| 2019 | Brenda Riemer (Eastern Michigan University) |
| 2018 | Mary McDonald (Georgia Institute of Technology) |
| 2017 | Eric Dunning (University of Leicester) |
| 2017 | Gertrud Pfister (Københavns Universitet) |
| 2016 | Norman Denzin (University of Illinois) |
| 2015 | Mary Jo Kane (University of Minnesota) |
| 2014 | R. Vivian Acosta (Brooklyn College) and Linda Jean Carpenter (Brooklyn College) |
| 2013 | Nancy Spencer (Bowling Green University) |
| 2012 | Merrill Melnick (SUNY Brookport) and Peter Donnelly (University of Toronto) |
| 2011 | Don Sabo (DYouville College) and Gary Sailes (Indiana University) |
| 2010 | Joseph Maguire (Loughborough University) |
| 2009 | Susan Birrell (University of Iowa) and Harry Edwards (University of California, Berkeley) |
| 2008 | Jennifer Hargreaves (Universities of Surrey and Brighton, UK) and Richard Lapchick (University of Central Florida) |
| 2007 | Mike Malec (Boston College) and Michael Messner (University of Southern California) |
| 2006 | Vicky Paraschak (University of Windsor) |
| 2005 | Nancy Theberge (University of Waterloo) |
| 2004 | Jim Frey (University of NevadaLas Vegas) |
| 2003 | John Loy (Universities of Illinois and Otago) |
| 2002 | Andrew Yiannakis (University of Connecticut) and Susan Greendorfer (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) |
| 2001 | George Sage (University of Northern Colorado) and D. Stanley Eitzen (Colorado State University) |
| 1996 | Jay Coakley (University of ColoradoColorado Springs), Gunther Lueschen (University of Alabama), and Lee Vander Velden (University of Maryland) |
| 1995 | Gerald Kenyon (Universities of Wisconsin and Waterloo) |