English Professor Lim Named 2023 Distinguished University Professor

Media Contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations

A gifted poet, author and educator, English Professor Sandra Lim has been named the 2023 UMass Lowell Distinguished University Professor.

The annual award honors selected professors for exemplary teaching, research and service to the university. It is the highest accolade bestowed on a UMass Lowell faculty member.  

“This honor is a vote of confidence for the study of imaginative language and narrative art,” said Lim, a graduate of the renowned Iowa Writers' Workshop and the University of California Berkeley. “This recognition impels me in my own work and inspires me to think afresh about ways to bring my students into the electrifying life of a poem.”

Speaking of her department colleagues and those across the university, Lim added: “The UMass Lowell community has consistently provided me with support and opportunities to work with our students and collaborate with my colleagues in truly impactful ways. I’m grateful to be able to represent my department and the university in this way.”

Recognized for dedication to her craft and excellence in the classroom, Chancellor Julie Chen said Lim stands out among her peers.

“Sandra not only sees the world differently, collecting her observations in beautiful prose, she takes her students on that journey and teaches them to view their surroundings with a keen eye as well,” said Chen. “The university is extremely lucky to call her one of our own and we look forward to the many ways in which she will continue to enrich our community.” 

In his letter nominating Lim for the honor, English Professor Jonathan Silverman wrote: “In a university, college, and department with brilliant scholars, writers, and teachers, [Lim’s] work stands out in its recognition not only among poets and creative writers but in the university at large.

“She is a dedicated colleague who has served thoughtfully in her time here, balancing her service work between the English department’s creative writing concentration, the department itself, the college, the university, and within the profession nationally. She is a phenomenal teacher who always receives glowing evaluations from her students and has won multiple teaching awards,” added the English department chair.

Lim’s published works include three books of poetry – a “The Curious Thing,” “The Wilderness” and “Loveliest Grotesque” – and her poems have appeared in a range of magazines and literary journals, including “The New York Review of Books,” “Poetry,” “The New Republic,” “The Baffler,” “The Yale Review” and “The New York Times Magazine.” 

Earlier this year, Lim was recognized with the 2023 Jackson Poetry Prize by Poets & Writers Magazine. The award does not accept applications and is bestowed by prior winners and fellow poets. Her other honors include a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, the Levis Reading Prize for The Wilderness, a Pushcart Prize, as well as residency fellowships from MacDowell, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Getty Foundation.

Awarded annually, previous Distinguished University Professors include Plastics Engineering Professor Ramaswamy Nagarajan (2022), Nutritional Sciences Professor Katherine Tucker (2021) and Mechanical Engineering Professor Christopher Niezrecki, among others.