The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to the CoE's distance education program. The recipient is determined by distance-education students who nominate faculty and support their nominations with comments and evaluations.

In support of Longuski's nomination one student wrote: "Professor Longuski has been one of the best professors I've had in all of my aerospace education. He is extremely helpful, responsive to emails, and explains things in class so that you fully understand the topics he is teaching. He is very fair, his tests are based on your knowledge of the material (he doesn't try to trick you) and he overall has just been wonderful."

Another student said: "Prof. Longuski provides special considerations for distance students and acknowledges that we are not full-time students with the luxury of close proximity to faculty and TAs. He also takes care to ensure the course videos are sufficient for those not physically present. His teaching style is commendable and courses have a logical pace. The homework is challenging, but rewarding. Prof. Longuski's course has been my favorite thus far in the AAE master's program."

Longuski receives $2,000 as part of the award.