The awards are intended to recognize individuals or teams at MIT, rather than an entire department. If you have a larger team in mind and have questions, please contact mitmlkcelebration@mit.edu 

Yes, more than one person can submit an online nomination for the same individual or team. It can be even more effective for multiple nominators to work collaboratively on one nomination, list all of their names in the opening statement.

Nominations can also include additional documentation, such as a letter of support, a compilation of statements of support from multiple colleagues, an example of the nominee’s work or any other supporting evidence that might be helpful. Each nomination may only include one item of additional documentation, no more than two pages long. The total amount of material you submit (Nomination + Additional Documentation) cannot exceed 6 pages.

If you are unable to use the online nomination form, either because you cannot get a certificate or you do not have access to a computer, please contact mitmlkcelebration@mit.edu 

Most successful nominations are around one page long. It seems to take about that much space to address the questions on the nomination form and demonstrate how the nominee has met most of the criteria for the category. Nominations may not exceed 6 pages in length.

For the 2026 awards, nominations are due on or before December 1, 2025.

Any member of the MIT community (including alumni) can submit a nomination. Faculty and supervisors can nominate their staff, employees can nominate their supervisors and co-workers can nominate one another. 

Members of the MLK Celebration Committee cannot submit a nomination.

Yes, you may nominate yourself for an individual award, but you will need to include, as additional documentation, letters of support from others.

If you are nominating a team that you worked on, please acknowledge your involvement and include supporting letters from someone outside of the team.

It is not appropriate to nominate a family member, spouse or partner. We recommend suggesting to a colleague or team member that they might nominate the person instead.

The Selection Committee begins reviewing shortly after the nomination window closes and makes their determinations by early December. Notifications are sent to all nominators by mid-December. 

The committee reviews all the nominations by category and scores them based on how well they meet the award criteria. It may be helpful to reference the MIT Excellence Awards example questions as a guide.

Notifications are sent to all recipients and nominators by mid-December. 

The awards will be presented at a special ceremony on February 10, 2026. The awardees will be publicly announced at the MLK Celebration Luncheon that takes place the next day, February 11, 2026. 

Award recipients are invited to the ceremony on February 10, 2026 and can invite a limited number of family and friends.

Please see this listing of previous award recipients.