The VWBPE Thinkerer Award

In recognition for his long-term leadership and dedication to furthering education, building communities, and inspiring collaborative development in virtual environments, VWBPE conferred the first annual Thinkerer Award upon its namesake, Thinkerer Melville (Selby Evans).

Since then, we have proudly honored ten individuals as Thinkerers.

We look to you, the members of the education community, to nominate candidates for this special award. These would be those who embody the best qualities of leadership, consistent selfless service towards the promotion of learning, community, and educational practices, and the spirit of cooperative development within immersive environments

Only individuals may be nominated. You may nominate as many individuals as you like. Fill out the form once for each person. Nominees need not be Second Life or OpenSimulator account holders.

Final selection of the award recipient will be conducted by the VWBPE Organizational Committee by mid-February, and will be announced publicly during the conference closing ceremonies on Saturday, April 5, 2025.

Nomination Criteria

The award is for lifetime achievement in community development and leadership rather than for a single contribution.

Nominees should have a minimum of 10 years of distinguished service to education and/or a specific community of practice.

Nominees need not currently hold a professional position and may be retired.

Nominees will have made significant contributions to one or more of VWBPE’s primary goals of

• helping build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
• providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and/or

providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education.

Nominees should demonstrate an active commitment to:

• educational excellence;
• service of others;
• advising or mentoring of others in the same community; and
• the ongoing promotion and development of best practices in their community of practice.

Exclusions

Individuals are ineligible for nomination if they fit any of the criteria below:

• The individual has not been engaged with their community of practice for more than 2 years;
• The individual has been a past award recipient; and
• The individual is only identifiable as their avatar personae (i.e. we must be able to identify the person by their current legal name and contact information).