To highlight and celebrate the vital role that museum workers play in building thriving museums, strong communities, and a better world, the AAM Board of Directors is pleased to present the new AAM Mid-Career Professional Award to recognize museum professionals with 11-19 years of experience who are making an impact in their institutions, communities, and the museum field. Multiple individuals may be recognized in a given year.

Awards recognize a specific achievement or body of work that has benefitted the honoree’s home institution, community, or broader museum field. Honorees’ work may be in any area of museum operations (administration, collections management, community engagement, curation, development, education, equity and culture, exhibitions, human resources, leadership and management, marketing and communications, public relations, research and evaluation, registration, security, technology, etc.) or any area impacting the museum field.

Contact aamnominate@aam-us.org with questions.

Eligibility:

• Nominee should have 11-19 years of experience in the museum field at the time of submission.
• Nominees may work for or with museums in any capacity.
• Nominee may be from or based in any country but must demonstrate contributions to US museum(s) and/or the US museum field.
• Self-nominations accepted. If submitting a self-nomination, two letters of recommendation are required in the application form.

Timeline & Additional Information

AAM Mid-Career Professional Award

Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. PST on December 5, 2025 for consideration. An official announcement of the honorees will be made in May 2026. Honorees will receive a complimentary, nontransferable registration to attend the 2026 AAM Annual Meeting, though attendance at the conference is not required.