The National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) has announced the establishment of its Doug Risner Prize for Emerging Dance Researchers, named for Wayne State University Professor of Dance, Dr. Doug Risner.

The Doug Risner Prize for Emerging Dance Researchers recognizes excellence in dance research and emerging scholars who conduct outstanding dance inquiry. Unpublished scholars submitting original empirical research study manuscripts to NDEO's Journal of Dance Education are eligible. Recipients of the prize will see their article published in the journal and receive an honorarium that may be used for NDEO membership, conference costs and other professional services. There will be one awardee annually, beginning with 2016.

The prize honors Dr. Doug Risner in recognition of his long service as editor of Journal of Dance Education, his passionate commitment to research and research education and his generous support of NDEO. Dr. Risner has published more than 100 papers, essays, journal articles and book chapters. His books include Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance: An Empirical Study of Male Identities in Western Theatrical Dance Training, Hybrid Lives of Teaching Artists in Dance and Theatre Arts, and Gender, Sexuality and Identity: Critical Issues in Dance Education.

"Doug Risner's leadership in helping NDEO to create this award is greatly appreciated," said Journal of Dance Education Editor in Chief, Dr. Wendy Oliver. "The idea behind it is to encourage more people in our field to go into dance research and to work on getting their research projects out to the world in published form." Far more people in the dance education field are engaged in artistic creation and service to students than are engaged in research and publishing. "This award serves NDEO's membership and moves our field forward by encouraging more dance educators to pursue research and publishing," Dr. Oliver said.

Dr. Risner has been significantly involved with new research education through Journal of Dance Education since nearly its establishment in 2001. He was appointed assistant editor in 2002, then co-editor in chief and later editor in chief, an appointment he held until 2012. He is a past winner of NDEO's Outstanding Dance Education Researcher award.

"Doug is an amazing teacher and scholar," said Dr. Matthew Seeger, dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State. "This honor demonstrates his important contributions to dance education."

The complete call for papers for the inaugural Doug Risner Prize for Emerging Dance Researchers is online at http://www.ndeo.org/docs.ashx?id=236018. Its submission deadline is June 1, 2016, with the awardee to be notified August 1.

The College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University serves 2,500 students majoring in 16 undergraduate and 13 graduate programs through the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History, the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, the Department of Music and the Department of Communication. Wayne State University, located in the heart of Detroit's Midtown Cultural Center, is a premier urban research institution offering more than 380 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 27,000 students.