Associate Professor Thomas DeFrantz's analysis of choreographer Alvin Ailey's body of work, "Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American Culture," will be awarded the 2004 de la Torre Bueno Prize for outstanding English-language publication in dance on June 11 in Chicago. The de la Torre Bueno Prize, awarded annually, honors the late J.R. de la torre Bueno, who founded the dance book publishing program at Wesleyan University Press in Massachusetts. The only adjudicated recognition given in the field of dance publications, the prize is awarded for depth of research and thought, quality of writing, and significance to the field of dance.
Professor Neil E. Todreas of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering has been awarded the Henry DeWolf Smyth Statesman Award in recognition of "statesmanlike contributions to the many aspects of nuclear energy activities." The award, established by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and the Nuclear Energy Institute in 1972, was presented May 18 by James S. Tulenko, ANS president.
Stephen Benton (1941-2003) was posthumously awarded the Edwin H. Land Medal in ceremonies held recently in Washington, D.C. Benton who was was director of the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) and the E. Rudge ('48) and the Nancy Allen Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Media Laboratory, was honored for his "seminal research and innovation in three-dimensional imaging, including the famed rainbow hologram." Originally endowed by Polaroid Corp. and awarded in alternate years by IS&T and the Optical Society of America, the Edwin H. Land Medal recognizes an individual who has demonstrated from a base of scientific knowledge, pioneering entrepreneurial creativity that has had major public impact.
Edward M. Greitzer, H. N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has been selected to receive the R. Tom Sawyer Award from the ASME. He is being recognized for "the development of practical engineering models that unify the understanding of compression system stability and end wall flows; for serving as a catalyst for collaborative research on a global scale; and for longstanding service to the ASME International Gas Turbine Institute." The award will be presented in Nevada in June.
David M. Konisky, a political science graduate student, has been named a 2005 Udall Dissertation Fellow. The Udall Dissertation Fellowship is awarded to two outstanding doctoral candidates nationwide who have achieved distinction in their scholarly research and who are entering the final year of writing the dissertation. The dissertation topic must be significant and relevant to national environmental public policy and/or environmental conflict resolution. The award covers both academic and living expenses up to $24,000 for the year.
Iris Fanger, a music and theater arts lecturer, was honored as the 2005 Dance Champion by the Boston Dance Alliance at its fourth annual benefit on May 12. Fanger has been a theater and dance journalist as well as an educator and historian for 40 years. The Boston Dance Alliance is comprised of members from the Greater Boston dance community.
Stephen M. Meyer, professor of political science and Director of the Project on Environmental Politics and Policy, has received the Francis W. Sargent Conservation Award in recognition of his contributions and leadership in incorporating the "latest science on wetland wildlife habitat in Massachusetts' wetland regulatory program."
Mark H. Jacobs, Director of Technical Services in Alumni Association Operations and Information Systems, is the 2005 Steven Wade Neiterman Award winner for his "lead in establishing and leading technical, and many non-technical teams, both inside and outside the Alumni Association" and for his "outstanding commitment to the Alumni Association and to MIT for over 15 years." The award was created by Neiterman's parents in memory of their son, who died in 1998 after working at MIT for 11 years.
Eric W. Hudson, assistant professor of physics and Class of 1958 Career Development Chair, was named a Cottrell Scholar by Research Corp., one of the nation's first private foundations to promote basic research in the physical sciences by supporting the research of young faculty in American and Canadian universities. The honor includes a $100,000 cash award to support and recognize excellence in both teaching and research. Hudson was one of 13 North American faculty to receive the annual award out of a pool of 136 peer-reviewed proposals.
Professor Esther Duflo of economics has won the Prize for Best Young Economist in France, awarded jointly by the Parisian newspaper Le Monde and the Cercle des Economistes. The prize honors contributions made by an economist under 40 to the development of French economic thought.
The Rossby Award, given annually by MIT's Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate for the most outstanding thesis submitted to the program, went to Peter Huybers for 2003-2004. Huybers, whose thesis was titled "On the Origins of the Ice Ages: Insolation Forcing, Age Models and Nonlinear Climate Change," was advised by Professor Carl Wunsch of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 8, 2005 (download PDF).
