September 9, 2024
Dr. John Zubizarreta, Director Emeritus of the Dr. John Zubizarreta Honors Program at Columbia College, has received the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) Founders Award. The mission of NCHC is to support and enhance the community of educational institutions, professionals, and students who participate in collegiate honors education around the world. The Founders Award, which Dr. Zubizarreta will receive at the 2024 NCHC conference on Nov. 1, is NCHC's most prestigious award, bestowed only seven times before 2024. The recognition honors members who have been instrumental in the development and advancement of NCHC and honors education worldwide.
Dr. Zubizarreta served as Director of the Honors Program at Columbia College from 1991 – 2021, and before that, he served as Assistant Director of the program from 1989 – 1991. He has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of honors education through his many leadership roles with NCHC, including serving as President of the organization in 2010. Prior to his role as President, he served as President-Elect, national conference program chair, Vice President, and member of the Executive Committee, completing multiple terms on the Board of Directors.
He has also received NCHC’s 2018 Sam Schuman Award for Excellence at a Four-Year Institution and has been recognized as a prestigious NCHC Fellow. He has been Guest Editor of NCHC’s Honors in Practice and currently serves as an editorial board member of the journal as well as a member of the organization’s Publications Board and Teaching and Learning Committee.
Over the course of his career and at Columbia College, “Dr. Z,” as he is known on campus, has authored over 80 publications, presented more than 300 papers at conferences, and led workshops and delivered keynotes at many professional meetings and institutions globally. In 2010, he was selected by the Carnegie Foundation and CASE as the U.S. Professor of the Year for Baccalaureate Colleges, and the Chronicle of Higher Education featured him as one of the nation’s “10 Classroom Blazers” in 2017.
Anyone affiliated with the honors program at Columbia College knows of Dr. Z’s commitment to honors education and his significant contributions to the college. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Zubizarreta for this greatly deserved honor.