The External Relations Group Awards for Excellence is an annual, peer-reviewed competition created to nationally recognize the strategy, creativity, and talent external relations professionals exhibit every day as they work to advance medicine, research, education, and community collaborations at their institutions. The awards honor and celebrate the most innovative and effective approaches to promote academic medicine through alumni relations, communications, community relations, development, and marketing programs and projects.
The 2027 Awards for Excellence Competition is now open through October 15, 2026. Learn more and submit!
Interested in Submitting Your Work?
We want to recognize the outstanding work you’ve produced to help advance your institution to greatness. You’ve been responding to challenging times and, at the same time, creating innovative campaigns; writing articles; organizing alumni, donor, and community events; revamping your digital presence, and, most important, demonstrating the value of your institution to your communities. Now is the time to show off your work and be nationally recognized!
Prior to 2026, the Awards for Excellence was sponsored by the former Group on Institutional Advancement and is now sponsored by the External Relations Group.
2026 Awards for Excellence Winners
Best in Show
- Made Better By You Storytelling Campaign, University of Utah Health
Advancing Institutional Excellence Initiatives
Electronic Communications
Audio and Video
- Silver: The Vagelos Effect video, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Websites
- Silver: Newsworthy Research: AI-Driven Tool for Research Communications, Emory University School of Medicine
Print and Digital Publishing
Single or Special Issue
- Gold: Pathways Magazine: The Resilient Brain, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
- Silver: Fall 2024 Brigham Magazine -- Bridging Gaps: Navigating myths, lies, and other health threats, Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Bronze: Dean’s Report 2025, The Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University
External Audience
- Gold: Florida Physician magazine, University of Florida College of Medicine
- Gold: UAB Medicine Magazine Fall 2024, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Silver: Medicine@Brown, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
- Silver: Penn Medicine Magazine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Silver: Stanford Medicine magazine, Stanford University, School of Medicine
Special Events, Projects, Programs, or Campaigns
- Gold: Made Better By You Storytelling Campaign, University of Utah Health
- Gold: With New Hands, Luka Buys Coffee for the First Time. Ever., Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Silver: Research Under Threat campaign, Harvard Medical School / Harvard University
- Bronze: Bionic Hand Sparks Resilience in Patient After Electrocution Accident, UCSD Healthcare
- Bronze: Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative Campaign, University of Miami Health System
The Robert G. Fenley Writing Awards
Basic Science Staff Writing
- Gold: When Science Moves Mountains by Elizabeth Dougherty, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Silver: Harvard Medicine Magazine: Making Sense of Interoception by Molly McDonough, Harvard Medical School
- Bronze: Molecular Tripwires and Sponges Evolved in Bacterial Struggle for Survival by Elizabeth Dougherty, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
General Staff Writing
- Gold: A very personal mission by Mark Conley, Stanford University, School of Medicine
- Gold: From Trauma to Healing by Mary-Rose Abraham, UCLA Health/David Geffen School of Medicine
- Silver: Truth, Lies, or Marketing? Navigating health information in the age of social media by Rebekah Edwards, Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Silver: ‘Helping the population that raised me’: Dr. Stephanie Crewe reflects on getting back to her roots Laura Ingles, VCU School of Medicine
- Bronze: Shiniqua’s Miracle by Danielle Ivanov, University of Florida College of Medicine
Solicited Articles
- Silver: The worth of ‘worthless’ ideas by Jennie Dusheck, Stanford University, School of Medicine
News Releases
- Silver: Stanford scientists transform ubiquitous skin bacterium into a topical vaccine by Bruce Goldman, Stanford University, School of Medicine
The “Shoestring” Award
- Gold: Dr. Klotman’s Weekly Videos, Baylor College of Medicine
- Silver: Stanford Surgery Cubes, Stanford University, Department of Surgery