What is the Brock International Prize in Education?

The Brock International Prize in Education recognizes an individual who has made a specific innovation or contribution to the science and art of education, resulting in a significant impact on the practice or understanding of the field of education. It must be a specific innovation or contribution that has the potential to provide long-term benefit to all humanity through change and improvement in education at any level, including new teaching techniques, the discovery of learning processes, the organization of a school or school system, the radical modification of government involvement in education, or other innovations. The prize is not intended to recognize an exemplary career or meritorious teaching, administration, or service with a primarily local impact. The prize itself is awarded each year and consists of $40,000, a certificate, and a bust of Sequoyah.

The Brock Laureate receives the prize at a public ceremony during the Brock Symposium on Excellence in Education. The Symposium is a signature event to which teachers, principals, university faculty and administrators, and education executives from Oklahoma and beyond are invited.

What Makes This Prize Significant?

Education is a topic of ever-growing concern in all areas of civilized society. It is a field that is carefully practiced, actively researched, and often undergoing transformation. Where once education was an indicator of a privileged few, today it has become imperative for entire nations. To be uneducated not only diminishes one's chances at success but places that individual at risk. Given an environment in which so much is at stake, it is important to recognize major innovations in education and adopt them into other education systems.

How is the Prize Recipient Determined?

Each year, the recipient of the Brock International Prize in Education is determined by a jury of nine members. The jury is selected by the Brock Prize Executive Committee and approved by the presidents of Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Tulsa. Jurors include educators and champions of education, university officers, meritorious professors, business and government officials, and others committed to excellence in education.

Each juror nominates one candidate and submits a brief statement on the accomplishment of that individual. During the deliberation process, each juror makes an oral presentation in support of their candidate. Discussion and elimination voting follows until the Brock Laureate for the following year is identified.

 

How is the Brock Prize Administered?

The administration of the Prize is supervised by the Brock Prize Executive Committee, which includes executive officers and representatives from Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Tulsa, and the Brock Family Community Foundation. The Chair of the Executive Committee and administrator of the prize is Dr. Trent Gabert, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Studies at the University of Oklahoma.