Awards, Applications, and Nominations

The Iowa Innovation and Entrepreneurship Honors, hosted by the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center recognizes outstanding entrepreneurial accomplishments of our alumni, students, faculty, staff, and Venture School participants.

Recipients of these awards exhibit passion, devotion and innovation in planning and deploying their startup/business, and have made significant progress over the years as determined by metrics such as jobs created and revenue generated.

General Guidelines for Nominations

1. Graduates, former students, faculty, and staff of the University of Iowa or past participants in any JPEC-affiliated programming may apply or be nominated. Please see individual award descriptions for further details.
2. We encourage entrepreneurs and innovators from any industry to apply for our awards.
3. Nominations and applications are welcome. Complete our simple nomination form to recognize a deserving Hawkeye, and we will contact them to collect additional information.
4. With the exception of the Enterprise Leadership Awards, the nominee must have played a central role in creating and/or developing a new business enterprise.
5. The applicant’s company must have a reputation for sound business ethics and excellent management practices.
6. Applicant must be respected as a leader in the industry and community, as demonstrated by involvement in industry, community, and service organizations and/or activities.
7. The Applicant is a good ambassador for the University of Iowa and/or Iowa JPEC.
8. If there are multiple founders who meet the criteria within one business, they may ALL be recognized in a single nomination/application for each award.
9. Nominations will be considered for two years. It is the responsibility of the nominator or applicant to update supporting information as needed.