Kate Bruce, professor in the UNCW Department of Psychology, is the recipient of the National Collegiate Honors Council 2024 Sam Schuman Award for Excellence in Honors Education at a Four-Year Institution.

According to a UNCW news release, the award recognizes a four-year college honors director or faculty member for outstanding contributions to the honors community.

Bruce served as the director of the UNCW Honors Scholars Program from 1999-2011, the release stated. In 2011, under her direction, the UNCW Honors College was established, over which she served as founding director. Bruce led the Honors College from 2011-2018. She also founded the UNCW Center for the Support of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CSURF) to provide support for the scholarly activities of all UNCW students.

Bruce has taught honors study-abroad courses in Ecuador’s Amazon, Andes Mountains and Galápagos Islands. A total of 27 honors theses have been completed under her direction to date.

“I am so appreciative of the time I've had in honors over the years—starting with mentoring honors projects in psychology back in the ’80s, teaching in honors, serving as director and advising students,” Bruce said in the release. “And most of all, working with amazing faculty colleagues who share the vision for honors education at UNCW. This recognition highlights the high regard in which the national honors community has held and continues to hold the UNCW Honors College.”

Bruce is a former president of the NCHC and elected member of the NCHC Executive Board. She served a term as president of both the Southern Regional Honors Council and the North Carolina Honors Association, according to the release. She was named 2008 North Carolina Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

The release stated Bruce will receive the 2024 Sam Schuman Award for Excellence at the NCHC Annual Conference in Kansas City on Nov. 1.