Awards
ACHA Awards & Prizes
Newly established in 2025, the Kauffman Prize honors the author of a monograph that provides new and/or challenging insight to the study of U.S. Catholic history.
Submission deadline: May 15, 2025
The Robert F. Trisco and Nelson H. Minnich Prize honors outstanding editing of a work in Catholic Church History.
Submission deadline: April 15, 2025
Announced each fall and awarded at the Annual Meeting the following January, the Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes lifelong contributions to the field of Catholic studies.
Awarded for the first time in 2024, the Robert F. Trisco and Nelson H. Minnich Prize honors outstanding editing of a work in Catholic Church History.
Announced each fall and awarded at the Annual Meeting the following January, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding service to the field of Catholic studies.
The John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award memorializes the scholarship and teaching of Monsignor Ellis (1905-1992). Its purpose is to assist a graduate student working on some aspect of the history of the Catholic Church.
Submission deadline: April 15, 2025
The Helen & Howard R. Marraro Prize is given annually to the author of a book that is judged by a committee of experts to be the most distinguished work dealing with Italian history or Italo-American history or relations that has been published in a preceding twelve-month period.
Submission deadline: May 15, 2025
The ACHA Summer Research and Writing Grants are typically used to fund travel, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year we are encouraging the grant be used to support writing. We are also inviting contingent faculty to apply for the award, in addition to our usual audience of graduate students.
Submission deadline: March 15, 2025
The John Gilmary Shea Prize is given annually to the author of a book, published during a preceding twelve-month period, which is judged by a committee of experts to have made the most original and distinguished contribution to knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church.
Submission deadline: April 15, 2025
The Cyprian Davis, O.S.B Prize recognizes works in progress that promise to make significant contributions to the study of the Black Catholic experience. The prize, established in the fall of 2020, is awarded in conjunction with the Cushwa Center at the University of Notre Dame.
Submission deadline: December 31, 2023
The Peter Guilday Prize is awarded for a manuscript, accepted by the editor of the Catholic Historical Review, that is the author’s first scholarly publication. The award is decided by the editorial staff of the CHR from
The Presidential Graduate Student Travel Grant is awarded annually to a student or students presenting at the Annual or Spring Meetings. The grant is intended to offset travel expenses for the student. Any ACHA Student Member enrolled in a graduate program of study is eligible to apply.
Submission deadline: October 1, 2025