Endowed by former Executive Secretary Keith Welsh, professor of interdisciplinary studies at Webster University in St. Louis,the William and Mary Burgan Prize encourages young scholar-teachers and acknowledges the contributions of Bill and Mary Burgan to Victorian studies and to this association. The award honors two people who are admirable scholar/teachers in their own right, and who, during their distinguished service at Indiana University, always evidenced sincere care and concern for graduate students. Bill and Mary Burgan have long been mainstays of Victorian studies, and each has done significant interdisciplinary work. But in addition to being fine scholars and fine teachers, they are wonderful human beings.

The William and Mary Burgan Prize for the Outstanding Presentation by a Graduate Student at the Midwest Victorian Studies Association conference recognizes a graduate student who exemplifies the qualities of an excellent teacher as well as a capable scholar by giving a presentation that demonstrates "teacherly" qualities. Criteria include an unhurried, well-organized presentation that meets the time limits; good eye contact with the audience; effective use of visual and verbal aids (though visual aids are not a requirement); an obvious passion for the work presented; and grace in handling questions at the end. In short, the winner of the Burgan Prize should demonstrate promise as a teacher as well as a scholar.

Previous Burgan Prize winners: 2009: Jennifer Warfel Juszkiewicz (Notre Dame), "The Iron Library: Victorian England and the Creation of the British Institution" 2008: Philip Steer (Duke University), “Guerrillas in the Midst: Settler Colonization and the British Invasion Novel” 2007: Kimberly Hereford (University of Washington), "G.F. Watts' Female Portraits and the Grosvenor Gallery: A Union of Style and Symbolism" 2006: Teresa Huffman Traver (Notre Dame), "When Autobiography Does Theology: Development in Newman's Apologia" 2005: Marty Gould (University of Iowa), "Around the World in 80 Plays: Drama and Empire in the Nineteenth Century" 2003: Marty Gould (University of Iowa), "Rational, National Show: The Theatrical Career of the Great Exhibition" 2002: Sara L. Maurer (Indiana University) "Redefining the Bounds of Property, Re-enforcing the Borders of Empire: Ulster Custom, 'Ancient Law', and the Land Act of 1870" 2001: Sarah Heidt (Cornell University), "Executing Autobiographies: The Case of John Addington Symonds and Margaret Oliphant"