The Cherry Award program is designed to honor great teachers, to stimulate discussion in the academy about the value of teaching, and to encourage departments and institutions to value their own great teachers. The recipient of the Cherry Award will receive a prize of $250,000 and will teach in residence at Baylor University during an upcoming semester.
2026 Cherry Award Recipient
Jamie Rankin, Ph.D.
2026 Cherry Award Winner
Jamie Rankin, Ph.D., University Lecturer in German at Princeton University and inaugural director of the Princeton Center for Language Study, has been named the 2026 Cherry Award recipient. A member of the Princeton faculty since 1991, Rankin earned his A.B. in music at Wheaton College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University.
2026 Finalists
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Professor of History, Augustana College
Associate Professor of Kinesiology, University of Michigan
University Lecturer in German, Princeton University