The University Photographers’ Association of America named Missouri S&T photographer Michael Pierce the 2025 Mark A. Philbrick Photographer of the Year and the 2025 Overall Annual Photo Contest Winner during the association’s annual symposium in Tennessee in July.

According to Mark Carriveau, vice president and historian of the association, UPAA has had thousands of members over the years but only a few can claim the highest honor.

“It is by far the hardest and most prestigious award to win in this organization,” Carriveau says. “To earn the title of Photographer of the Year, one must do more than win competitions — one must consistently produce powerful imagery month after month. It requires ongoing skill development, creative ambition, and a passion for pushing photographic boundaries to capture images the world has never seen before.”

Pierce received five awards, out of a possible six, for individual photos in multiple categories of the Annual Photo Competition:

• First place in Science and Research
• Second place in Portraits
• Third place in Campus Environment
• Third place in Sports Marketing and Illustrations
• Fourth place in News and College Life

Leading up to the Annual Photo Competition, UPAA members are invited to submit up to four pictures each month during the academic year for the Monthly Image Competition. These pictures are scored as part of the year-long competition that makes up part of the Photographer of the Year award. Pierce won 21 monthly awards during the 2024-25 academic year, including 10 first place awards and two best-in-show awards.

As photographer of the year, representatives from Canon presented Pierce with a new camera and lens during a July 17 ceremony at the association’s symposium, held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

“It’s incredibly humbling and validating to receive this award,” Pierce says. “I’ve admired the work of so many university photographers since discovering UPAA when I started at S&T, so to be recognized by that community is both an honor and a shock.”

Pierce joined the Missouri S&T marketing and communications department as a university photographer in 2021. He says he dabbled in photography during college, and after working as a graphic designer and attending a workshop with Rich Clarkson in Denver, he realized he wanted to pursue photography as a career. Clarkson is a renowned sports photographer who founded Clarkson Creative Photography and photographed 60 NCAA Final Four tournaments, more than anyone in history.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, Pierce worked at Pagosa Springs SUN Publishing in Colorado for nine years in advertising sales, design and photography roles for the company’s weekly newspaper and magazines. He then served as a professional photographer for the Colorado Rockies through Clarkson Creative, where he photographed all of the Major League Baseball team’s home games as well as promotions and events.

In 2017, Pierce joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he led the photography team and honed his research photography skills in challenging high-tech environments such as clean rooms or labs with lasers. Those experiences helped prepare him for his role at Missouri S&T. In 2021, he joined the UPAA.

“Whenever possible, I want my photos to not only show what something looks like — but what it feels like,” Pierce says. “I also believe photography should show who someone is, not just what they’re doing. At S&T, I try to highlight the ambition, spirit and humanity that is special to our campus. These stories can build pride, connect communities and inspire future students. That’s what I’m always striving for — creating images that resonate and have a meaningful impact.”

Winning images in the 2025 UPAA Annual Photo Competition

Winning images in the Monthly Image Competition

Click an image in the gallery to enlarge the photo and read about it. Upon clicking an image, you can scroll through and see all the photos.

About the University Photographers’ Association of America

Founded in 1961 by a group of New England photographers, UPAA has expanded to include members from 2-year, 4-year, public and private universities from nearly every state, Canada, Israel, Australia, Grenada and Europe. The UPAA represents the best in higher education photography.

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to The Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.