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Awards and honors

Friedman
Caption:
Friedman

Assistant Professor James D. DiCarlo of brain and cognitive sciences has been named one of 20 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Each of the scholars, who are junior faculty members at medical schools and research institutions, will receive a research award of $240,000 over a four-year period. DiCarlo's research project in neurophysiology is "Understanding the Neuronal Invariances That Underlie Visual Object Recognition."

Rajesh Jugulum, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received the Armand V. Feigenbaum Medal from the American Society for Quality. He was recognized for "all the significant research projects, publications, and contributions to quality engineering already accomplished, including relevant innovations in the field of multivariate diagnosis and pattern recognition."

Assistant Professor Muriel Medard of electrical engineering and computer science is the 2002 recipient of the Leon K. Kirchmayer Prize Paper Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The award recognizes her paper, "The Effect Upon Channel Capacity in Wireless Communications of Perfect and Imperfect Knowledge Channel," for changing the fundamental understanding of the difficulty in communicating over wireless time-varying channels and suggesting new strategies.

Institute Professor Jerome Friedman has been elected to the American Philosophical Society. The organization, which is the country's oldest learned society, promotes excellence and knowledge in the sciences and humanities through scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources and community outreach.

Ruth Levitsky, an administrative assistant in the Department of Economics, won a District Achievement Award from Toastmasters International for outstanding contributions to her district, excellent service to clubs and dedication to achieving the mission of Toastmasters International. Levitsky was the 2001-02 District 31 governor responsible for 120 Toastmasters clubs in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Professor of Biology H. Robert Horvitz is one of two winners of the inaugural Wiley Prize in the Biomedical Sciences. The award, which includes a $25,000 grant, recognizes contributions that have opened new fields of research or advanced novel concepts of their applications in a aprticular biomedical discipline. It was established by Wiley, a scientific and technical publisher.

Nathaniel Choge, who received the S.B. in electrical engineering and computer science in June, won the $5,000 third-place award in a national essay competition sponsored by the Executive Leadership Council and Federation. Entrants submitted essays on the topic of "Leadership in the New Millennium." The organization provides African-American executives with a network and leadership forum to promote excellence in business, economic and public policies for the African-American community.

Harvey F. Lodish, professor of biology and a member of the Whitehead Institute, was elected president of the American Society for Cell Biology for 2004. Lodish became a member of the MIT faculty in 1968, a full professor in 1976, and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute in 1982. He was also a founder of Genzyme. Lodish, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the lead author of the widely adopted textbook, "Molecular Cell Biology," which he is updating for a fifth edition next year.

Margaret E. McLaughlin, a research affiliate in the Center for Cancer Research, is one of 17 biomedical scientists to receive a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences for 2002. Career awards provide $500,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral training and the early years of faculty service. McLaughlin's award will fund her research project titled "Effects of Heterotypic Cell Interactions and Blood-Borne Signals on Tumors of the Nervous System."

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on July 17, 2002.

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