UChicago News

Amanda Woodward named dean of the Division of the Social Sciences

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:00 -0500

Amanda Woodward, the William S. Gray Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology, has been appointed dean of the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.

Woodward, a leading scholar in the social development of infants and young children, has been serving as interim dean of the Division since July 2017. Her appointment as dean of the Division is effective April 4.

“Amanda has provided vital leadership, sustaining the momentum of the Division of the Social Sciences. We are confident that she will be an excellent leader for the Division in the years to come,” wrote President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier in announcing her appointment.

Woodward in her research has pioneered the development of experimental methods to investigate social cognition in infants and young children. Her work has produced fundamental insights into infants’ social understanding and the processes that support conceptual development early in life. Her current research includes investigating the effects of culture and community in shaping children’s social learning strategies and the neural processes involved in early social-cognitive development.

“It is an honor to lead such an extraordinary community of scholars. I look forward to working together in many areas of research and an array of educational endeavors with faculty, students and staff to advance the social sciences at the University,” Woodward said.

Woodward has been a member of the University faculty since 1993. She was a founding member of the Center for Early Childhood Research and has served as director of the Infant Learning and Development Laboratory as well as chair of the Department of Psychology and deputy dean of faculty affairs for the Division.

Woodward was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014. Her research has been recognized by such awards as the Ann L. Brown Award for Excellence in Developmental Research, the American Psychological Association Boyd McCandless Award for an Early Career Contribution to Developmental Psychology and the John Merck Scholars Award. Woodward received her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College and her doctoral degree from Stanford University.

Woodward succeeds David Nirenberg, the Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Distinguished Service Professor of Social Thought, History, and Romance Languages, who serves as executive vice provost at the University.

The selection of the new dean by Zimmer and Diermeier was informed by the recommendations of an elected faculty committee chaired by Kenneth Pomeranz, University Professor in the Department of History and the College.

UChicago names recipients of Diversity Leadership Awards

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 10:55 -0600

Advocating for the concerns of those whose voices aren't heard is a hallmark of diversity leadership. The University of Chicago’s 2018 Diversity Leadership Award recipients have dedicated their lives to helping support underrepresented communities: Faculty member Randolph N. Stone, alumna Sunny Fischer and staff member Scott Cook have their own areas of public service interests, but are united in their passion for equality and justice.

Regina Dixon-Reeves, assistant vice provost for diversity and inclusion, praised the commitment of this year’s awardees, who will be honored Jan. 16 during the University’s annual MLK commemoration. “We are extremely proud of this year’s recipients as their collective years of work and sustained engagement in support of marginalized populations demonstrates the inclusive excellence valued by the University of Chicago.”

Defending all communities

A lifelong advocate for the underrepresented, Clinical Professor of Law Randolph N. Stone is dedicated to supporting and representing disadvantaged individuals and groups in the Chicago area. As founder of the Criminal Juvenile Justice Project, he works with law and social work students to defend children and young adults who have been charged with criminal behavior, reform juvenile and criminal law policies, and improve the criminal justice system. He continues his child advocacy as a board member of the Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.

“We started the CJP because we wanted to help stop the movement to criminalize African-American children,” Stone said. “Illinois was a leader in transferring children out of juvenile court to the adult criminal court by curtailing judicial discretion, lowering the age of transfer, and increasing the number and types of crimes for transfer. Moving forward, we want to continue to help children and young adults be treated with compassion and fairness.”

In addition to working on programs devoted to fair child sentencing policies, Stone also serves on the advisory board of the Federal Defender Program and served on Chicago’s Police Accountability Task Force. Throughout his career Stone has mentored hundreds of minority students, chaired the American Bar Association’s criminal justice section and served as the public defender of Cook County, where he helped increase the number of minority and women lawyers hired to the office while improving the quality of representation.

Confronting stereotypes

Sunny Fischer, AM’82, has worked as a teacher, social worker and executive in philanthropy. After earning her master’s degree at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, she went on to work with abused women in the community. Learning how women-focused organizations were under-resourced, she helped start the women’s funding movement, serving as executive director of The Sophia Fund, the first private women’s foundation solely devoted to women’s issues. She also co-founded the Chicago Foundation for Women, and had leadership roles in the Women’s Funding Network and Chicago Women in Philanthropy.

Later in her career, Fischer served as executive director of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, where she focused on historic preservation, the arts, and architecture and design, especially in low-income neighborhoods. While at the foundation, Fischer helped start a public housing museum in Chicago. Fischer was enthusiastic about this opportunity, as it combines her commitment to social justice and the arts, and it challenges stereotypes of public housing residents and the role of public housing.

After 10 years of exhibits and programs as a “museum in the streets,” the National Public Housing Museum is expected to open in 2019 in its own building in Chicago. A former resident of public housing, Fischer knows how damaging stereotypes can be, and she hopes that the museum will raise important questions about race and poverty, and the true meaning of “home.”

Fischer reflects on her perseverance: “These years of labor have been worth it,” she said. “If you believe in social justice and that art and culture can bring deeper understanding and can be a call to action, then the belief is motivation enough.”

Bridging political and social gaps

A clinical psychologist who spent much of his life working to improve health care services for minority populations, Scott Cook works at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Biological Sciences Division to help achieve culturally competent health care and reducing health care disparities across all communities.

“Health care disparities are immediate for me because the physical and emotional suffering that they create harm the people that I love the most in this world—my family, community and friends,” said Cook, who is a quality improvement and clinical transformation strategist. “I try to use the power afforded to me by my privileged identities to address these problems and the problems of others in groups that I may not belong to.”

Cook also serves as the deputy director of Finding Answers: Solving Disparities Through Payment and Delivery System Reform, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation geared toward identifying and reducing health care inequities. Throughout his career, Cook has worked with underrepresented communities in rural Missouri, as an intern at Chicago Cook County Stroger Hospital and at the Howard Brown Health Center. At Howard Brown, Cook worked directly with the LGBTQ community to create health care programs and interventions, including a smoking cessation public health campaign.

At these organizations Cook said he “learned so much about how bias, discrimination and oppression play out in people’s lives and damage their health and well-being.” Cook uses this knowledge along with personal experiences to continue working toward health care equality.

Fourth-year student, alumna named Marshall Scholars

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 11:00 -0600

Fourth-year Pradnya Narkhede and Valerie Gutmann, AB’17, have won Marshall Scholarships to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom next fall. The highly competitive scholarships, announced Dec. 4, will enable 43 American students to study at the graduate level in any field of their choosing.

Narkhede will use her Marshall Scholarship to combine two one-year degrees: the first, at the University of Edinburgh in science and technology in society, and the second at Imperial College London in plant chemical biology.

“This award provides me with an unrivaled opportunity to probe the relationship between science and sustainable development,” said Narkhede, who is particularly interested in the role of agriculture. “Equipped with the tools I hope to gain from my studies in the U.K., I aim to become a globally engaged scientist, contributing innovative discoveries that shape intelligent policy and improve people’s lives worldwide.”

Gutmann plans to pursue a two-year MPhil in comparative social policy at the University of Oxford. She hopes to eventually attend law school and study how social welfare policy can be most effectively designed to help the most vulnerable populations.

“I’m interested in the ways to use a legal degree and a policy perspective to design and implement social welfare policy—in ways that effectively augment human dignity, which is what underlies everything I care about,” Gutmann said. “This is an opportunity to comparatively study welfare systems, not just in the U.S. or the U.K. but in international societies more broadly.”

Narkhede and Gutmann are the 24th and 25th people affiliated with the University of Chicago to win Marshall Scholarships since 1986. It’s the first time since 2010 that the University has had two Marshall Scholars in a single year; it had three winners in 1999.

“We are thrilled for Pradnya and Valerie’s accomplishments,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. “Marshall Scholarships are awarded to students anticipated to be their country’s future intellectual leaders. Pradnya and Valerie’s rigorous pursuit of knowledge in global sustainability and social welfare policy epitomizes the scholarly leadership the University strives to foster. We are very proud of these students.”

The pursuit of global sustainability

Born and raised in rural India, Narkhede grew up visiting her family’s sugar cane farm—an experience that “beckoned an early fascination with the natural world,” she said. Years later that led to work that directly affects the lives of Indian farmers: Since May, Narkhede has served as a senior consultant at the Indian National Commission on Farmers, where she analyzes and designs initiatives to improve both environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity for smallholder growers. She also works to promote the use of science and appropriate technologies in attaining sustainable crop production.

In 2015, she founded and now directs Sustainable Soils, an initiative to serve remote Indian agricultural villages by providing soil testing for smallholder farmers and advice on crop rotation and fertilizer recommendations, while also engaging in the pilot installation of small-scale biogas and water-delivery systems. The award-winning program has garnered a $50,000 United Nations Development Programme sponsorship.

Narkhede also has received numerous research-related awards and fellowships. This past year, she spent several months as a research scholar at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, which allowed her to conduct water research as part of an international collaboration between Blaustein, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. As part of that fellowship, she oversaw fieldwork in Uganda piloting an irrigation implementation project. Earlier this year she also won a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, an award that honors undergraduates in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering.

Previously, Narkhede worked as a virtual research intern at the U.S. Department of Defense and was a 2016 Institute of Biophysical Dynamics Scholar with UChicago’s Department of Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, researching single-cell epigenetics. She plans to graduate in June with honors in chemistry and biological chemistry.

During her time at UChicago, Narkhede has taken part in numerous clubs and activities, including serving as president of the group Out in STEM, treasurer and co-director of Women in Science—both committed to the inclusion of women and other underrepresented groups in the sciences—and as a teaching assistant in the Biological Sciences Division. She has participated as a varsity rower/coxswain with UChicago Crew and currently volunteers as manager of a local community garden that provides nutritional education and produce to low-income families in the Hyde Park and Woodlawn neighborhoods. She is also an award-winning pianist.

Chief among her activism, though, is her commitment to science: “In examining and engineering plant, microbial and other living systems, I hope to advance the prospects for food and energy security as well as human health by developing more stress-tolerant crops, robust sources of renewable biofuels and living factories for life-saving medicines,” Narkhede said. “There is incredible power in harnessing the tenets of biochemistry to promote sustainable development, and I hope to be at the forefront of this movement.”

Working to address housing issues

Gutmann became interested in social welfare issues, particularly housing, while a first-year student in the College. As a caseworker with Health Leads, a nonprofit that aims to address the social determinants of health, Gutmann volunteered at federally qualified health centers on Chicago’s South and West sides. She connected medical patients to social service agencies and charitable organizations in the city. “The most common problem patients faced was housing insecurity, and there was nothing I could do for them on that front,” said Gutmann.

“I grew up in a household that had a strong emphasis on what it meant to be physically together in a space, what it meant to understand home as a place of security and refuge and understanding and support,” said Gutmann, who was raised in suburban Long Grove, Ill. “That sense of home seemed really contrary to the kind of housing situations people were facing when they came to Health Leads for help.”

At UChicago, Gutmann took a class on housing, earned a grant from the Pozen Center for Human Rights and eventually decided to major in sociology with a focus on urban inequality. Gutmann wrote her BA thesis on the landmark 1966 case Gautreaux et al. v. Chicago Housing Authority, in which the courts ruled that the CHA was perpetuating racial segregation through its building practices. She examined the contemporary implications of the case, interviewing dozens of attorneys, housing advocates, residents and CHA employees.

Gutmann currently works as a reporting analyst for a private contractor of the CHA that administers 27,000 subsidized housing vouchers in Chicago. She said the job allows her to understand how the private and public sectors work together to serve the public—issues raised in the aftermath of the Gautreaux case.

“When they filed Gautreaux, the ACLU thought that the result would be the building of public housing developments in predominantly white neighborhoods. That didn’t happen. The CHA’s solution to desegregating wasn’t creating concentrations of poverty in more affluent places, it was de-concentrating poverty, which I think has a lot of really interesting sociological complications,” Gutmann said. “I wouldn’t have an appreciation for the work I’m doing now if I hadn’t studied the shift toward subsidized housing vouchers through the course of my thesis.”

While a UChicago student, Gutmann was a research assistant for two School of Social Service Administration scholars. Along with Assoc. Prof. Evelyn Brodkin, Gutmann examined legislative issues in Sweden and Denmark during the European refugee crisis. She also researched Puerto Rican musicians in Woodlawn during the mid-20th century as part of Assoc. Prof. Bill Sites’ upcoming book on music and community building.

The summer after her first year, Gutmann co-founded the nonprofit South Side in Focus, which aims to amplify the voices of South Side community members through public art exhibits. “With every opportunity my goal has been to listen and to learn, instead of assuming that I know what is best for people in situations I have never had to face,” Gutmann said.

Both scholars secured university nomination and application support through the College Center for Scholarly Advancement, which guides undergraduates and College alumni through rigorous application processes for nationally competitive fellowships. Additional support is provided by the British Awards faculty nomination committee; their ongoing service is a critical part of our students’ success at the national level.

Alumnus and activist Rami Nashashibi wins MacArthur grant

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 15:00 -0500

Chicago social justice activist Rami Nashashibi, AM’98, PhD’11, was announced on Oct. 11 as one of the 24 winners of a prestigious MacArthur Foundation grant.

In its citation, the foundation honored Nashashibi for “confronting the challenges of poverty and disinvestment in urban communities through a Muslim-led civic engagement effort that bridges race, class and religion.”

Nashashibi is the founder and executive director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network, a nonprofit agency working across religious, ethnic, generational, income and other boundaries for social justice and human dignity on Chicago’s Southwest Side. IMAN was incorporated in 1997 and now has a $3 million annual budget. It operates a free community holistic health clinic, provides job training and transitional housing for formerly incarcerated men, develops youth leadership and civic engagement skills, and incorporates arts and cultural programming to inspire growth and change.

Unlike most winners who receive a phone call, Nashashibi was actually invited to the MacArthur Foundation offices under the pretense of a meeting on criminal justice. MacArthur President Julia Stasch then informed him he had won the award.

“I think then I went into a fog,” Nashashibi said. “It was very surreal disbelief that it was really happening. But I had a range of emotions—from not quite understanding the extent of it, to feeling profoundly grateful and humbled to be even considered.”

Nashashibi said he will use the $625,000 prize for a number of projects, including increasing national awareness of IMAN as well as expanding the nonprofit to other urban centers. In the coming year, Nashashibi also is committed to making the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, as well as completing a longstanding project to write a book about the work he has been doing for the last 20 years.

“IMAN is very deliberate in its own ability to both be rooted in this large, broader American Muslin experience, but also broadly informed and inclusive of the many different traditions that we interact with every single day,” Nashashibi told the MacArthur Foundation. “We believe we have the possibility of being a catalytic force of igniting that passion to do this type of work in urban centers across the country.”

Graduate experience shapes community-driven approach

Nashashibi said his graduate studies at UChicago “forever shaped” his approach to community outreach, allowing him to step away from the day-to-day duties of running a nonprofit to think more critically about the “layers of community life” and to gain “a better understanding of the failures” of communities.

“It’s where I learned to embrace the discomfort that comes sometimes with social change,” he said.

Nashashibi said he enjoys engaging with leading experts and researchers at the University.

“I’ve always kept one foot in academia,” he said, frequently teaching as an adjunct at several Chicago institutions. Currently he is a visiting professor of sociology and theology at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Omar McRoberts, UChicago associate professor of sociology and a faculty member on Nashashibi’s dissertation committee, recalled Nashashibi’s academic and community work.

“Rami Nashashibi was a brilliant graduate student who produced a remarkable dissertation on ‘ghetto cosmopolitanism,’ which explains how poor urban communities participate in broader metropolitan and global cultural currents,” McRoberts said.

“What is more remarkable is that during his time as a doctoral student,” McRoberts added, “Rami was emerging as one of the most important community organizers of his generation. Through his work with the Inner City Muslim Action Network, Rami has brought his sociological learning about urban inequality, religion and inter-group conflict and cooperation into the realm of active social change, and has made a tremendous impact.”

Nashashibi acknowledged the indelible mark his time as a UChicago graduate student made on his career.

“There are people and institutions along the last 20 years that have a had profound impact,” he said. “My time in sociology at UChicago profoundly impacted every part of my life and how I do this work.”

—This story is adapted from a 2016 UChicago News article.

Tanika Island Childress named CEO of the UChicago Charter School

Wed, 31 May 2017 16:04 -0500

Tanika Island Childress, a nationally distinguished educator and veteran leader at the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, has been named CEO of the University of Chicago Charter School.

Island Childress will apply her wide-ranging expertise from more than two decades of teaching and leading to continuing the development of UChicago Charter as a model for fostering greater equity and excellence in urban education.

The appointment builds on Island Childress’s 16-year career at the Urban Education Institute, where she most recently served as director of the UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program. Earlier in her career, Island Childress served as the UChicago Charter School’s chief academic officer and director of the UChicago Charter North Kenwood/Oakland Campus, one of the highest-performing non-selective elementary schools in the city of Chicago.

During her tenure as director of the North Kenwood/Oakland Campus, Island Childress was recognized with a Community School Leadership Award in 2012 from the Federation of Community Schools and a Principal Achievement Award from the city of Chicago in 2013. She also has been recognized as a national leader in non-cognitive and academic development, serving as a member of the Aspen Institute’s Council of Distinguished Educators on Social, Emotional and Academic Development.

“I have big ambitions for UChicago Charter School students, which begin and end with my belief in their ability to learn, grow and succeed,” Island Childress said. “I hope to change the lives of many Chicago students by building on the UChicago Charter School’s strong culture of belief in students’ capabilities, and tradition of teacher learning and accountability grounded in research and data.”

Prior to joining UEI, Island Childress was an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University’s Teaching Practicum and Field Experience Seminar. From 1997 to 2001, Island Childress was also the fourth-grade team leader for the Martin L. King Experimental Laboratory School in Evanston, Ill., where she took on the roles of Language Arts District Representative, School Literacy Committee member, Teachers as Readers Committee member and Sisterhood Project mentor.

“We are so fortunate to have Tanika’s depth of expertise at the helm of UChicago Charter School,” said Sian Beilock, executive vice provost of the University of Chicago and UChicago Charter School interim governing board chair. “Her vision, commitment and compassion will ensure we continue to help students across the South Side of Chicago realize their potential and achieve their goals, in school and in life.”

Island Childress’s appointment is part of UEI’s ambitious plan to improve schooling nationwide by conducting rigorous applied research, training exemplary teachers, operating a high-achieving public school, and designing school improvement tools and training for thousands of schools and classrooms across the United States.

The PreK-12 UChicago Charter School is designed to cultivate culturally aware critical thinkers and leaders, and prepare all of its students for college acceptance and graduation.

Its elementary model was recently the subject of a multi-year study that showed UChicago Charter is effectively addressing educational inequality and closing the achievement gap that has persisted between students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The study’s findings were published this year in the book The Ambitious Elementary School. UChicago Charter’s Woodlawn campus received a Level 1 school quality rating from the Chicago Public Schools district last year and will open a new high school facility next year with state-of-the-art engineering science labs, a media arts space and a college resource center.

Island Childress has been serving as the interim CEO of the UChicago Charter School since February and will continue developing UChicago Charter as a model of excellence in fostering high school achievement, college attainment and young adult success.

“Tanika brings a unique lens and extremely rare combination of experiences to her new role,” said Sara Ray Stoelinga, the Sara Liston Spurlark Director of UEI. “As the former director of UChicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program, she has deep expertise in what it takes to train and retain high quality teachers within some of the nation’s most distressed communities and challenging classroom environments. She also has a wealth of experience in working directly with UChicago Charter School leaders, teachers, students and families. She is a highly respected and visionary leader who has changed—and will continue to change—students’ educational and life trajectories for the better.”

Island Childress received her bachelor’s degree in education with a concentration in psychology from National Louis University in Chicago. She also earned a master’s degree in literacy education from Loyola University and received a leadership fellowship through the Urban Education Institute.

Prof. David Nirenberg awarded Laing Prize from UChicago Press

Thu, 11 May 2017 10:10 -0500

The University of Chicago Press has awarded the Gordon J. Laing Prize to Prof. David Nirenberg for Neighboring Faiths, his examination of the interactions of Muslims, Christians and Jews in the Middle Ages that provides new insight into how the faiths relate today.

The Laing Prize is the Press’s top honor, awarded annually to the UChicago faculty author, editor or translator of a book published in the previous three years that brings the Press the greatest distinction. Nirenberg, dean of the Division of the Social Sciences and the Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Distinguished Service Professor in History, Social Thought, Romance Languages and Literatures, is the 54th recipient of the award.

“Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today is the rare historical work that, in looking backward, can help point a way forward,” said Garrett Kiely, director of the UChicago Press. “Now, more than ever, we need scholars like David to remind us of our shared religious past and of our shared future. I am very pleased that the Board of University Publications conferred the Laing Prize on this outstanding work of scholarship.”

In his research, Nirenberg explores how the interactions of the three religions help shape how they define themselves and each other. He describes his work as getting closer to an understanding of what it meant for a Muslim in Christian Spain to convert to Judaism in the 14th century, or how Muslim and Christian readings of Hegel in the 20th century have shaped how members of these faiths perceive the other.

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2017 Laing Prize ceremony

In Neighboring Faiths, Nirenberg examines how the three religions interact by focusing on medieval Spain, but finding overlaps in more recent times from Pope Benedict XVI to the leaders of Hamas.

“How these three faiths interact with each other—and take shape through each other—is crucial to our current world and animates a huge amount of our geopolitical energy,” Nirenberg said. “Although the book is largely medieval, it begins with and ends with meditations on how this process of co-production among the three faiths is still going on.”

Writing in the London Review of Books, Carlos Fraenkel described Neighboring Faiths not as a “feel-good story” about the faiths getting along, but instead an argument for why ideas matter and how they can harden over time, requiring a study of the past to inform future relations.

What inspired Nirenberg to write Neighboring Faiths was a curiosity that emerged from his own background as a Latin American immigrant to the U.S. of Jewish descent. Further impetus came more recently when he taught an undergraduate course in Jerusalem.

“It was there, discussing the scriptures of Islam, Judaism and Christianity with a class evenly divided between all three faiths, that I first began to perceive the possibility, and perhaps even the importance, of such a project,” Nirenberg said.

Nirenberg is also author of Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages; Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition; and Aesthetic Theology and Its Enemies: Judaism in Christian Painting, Poetry and Politics. His honors include receiving the Historikerpreis der Stadt Münster this year, awarded for outstanding works in historical sciences.

Arne Duncan appointed distinguished senior fellow at Harris School of Public Policy

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 11:00 -0600

Arne Duncan, who served as U.S. Secretary of Education and chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools, has joined the University of Chicago as a distinguished senior fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy.

Duncan will participate in seminars, conferences and student-led initiatives at Harris Public Policy, bringing to the University his significant experience in education policy. His longstanding dedication to students and their families adds an important voice to work across the University to improve education through research, engagement with education practice and policy, and helping to train the next generation of education leaders.

“The University of Chicago is committed to bringing together scholars and practitioners to confront the challenges faced by educators in Chicago and cities around the world,” President Robert J. Zimmer said. “Arne Duncan, with his wealth of experience, brings important insights into the nation’s educational challenges, with a perspective informed by his understanding of Chicago’s South Side.”

Duncan also will serve as special advisor to the dean of Harris, helping to design, organize and host two events a year at the public policy school. In addition, he will provide advice to the dean in areas of public policy related to his expertise. The three-year appointment as a distinguished senior fellow took effect Jan. 1.

“The University of Chicago and Harris are internationally recognized leaders in education and outcomes-focused research, which are passion points for me,” Duncan said. “I am pleased to join the UChicago community, with its outstanding reputation for debate and inquiry—it certainly played an important role in shaping my education as a child.”

Duncan has deep ties to Chicago and the University. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and his father, Starkey Duncan Jr., was a professor of psychology at the University. His mother, Sue Duncan, founded an after-school tutoring program on the South Side, which Arne Duncan credited with helping to inspire his career in education.

Before being appointed Secretary of Education in 2008, Duncan served for more than seven years as chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools.

Duncan stepped down as education secretary at the end of 2015. He serves as managing partner of Emerson Collective, leading a comprehensive effort to develop job skills and opportunities for young people in Chicago.

The appointment of Duncan complements the University’s ongoing work in education-related research areas across campus. These efforts include the work of the Urban Education Institute, Urban Labs, the Thirty Million Words Initiative and many more.

At Harris, scholars have focused since the school’s founding on improving the lives of children and their educational achievements, including the multiple factors that can affect a child’s educational outcomes, from parenting interventions and access to sanitation to student loan debt and early childhood programs.

“Education policy has been an area of longstanding interest to Harris. The breadth and importance of his various activities in this policy sphere ensure that Arne’s addition to our community will help make Harris a preeminent place in the world for engagement with the various issues that make education at once among the most important and the most challenging of all policy areas,” said Kerwin Charles, interim dean at Harris and the Edwin and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor.

Luis Bettencourt named inaugural director of Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 10:00 -0600

Luis M. Bettencourt, a leading researcher in urban science and complex systems, has been appointed the inaugural Pritzker Director of the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago.

Under Bettencourt’s leadership, the Mansueto Institute, which launched last year with the support of a $35 million gift from alumni Joe and Rika Mansueto, will enhance the University’s strengths in urban scholarship and education and accelerate work across campus on the processes that drive and shape cities. It was founded to foster innovative and interdisciplinary scholarship, develop new educational programs, and provide leadership on the local, national and international levels to meet the challenges that cities face.

“The University of Chicago is in an exceptional position to increase understanding and develop effective practices around the most complex questions facing cities,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “Luis’s intellectual leadership will help build the Mansueto Institute into a hub for the University’s rich array of urban research, education and impact.”

The Mansueto Institute will work closely with urban-focused efforts across campus in the divisions and schools as well as entities such as UChicago Urban Labs, which develops and tests evidence-based urban policy; the Office of Civic Engagement, which collaborates with community partners in Chicago and beyond; and the Global Engagement Office, which works through University centers in China, Europe and India.

“Luis is incredibly curious and can convene people from across the sciences in ways that produce new and innovative understandings of cities and urbanization,” said Kathleen Cagney, professor of sociology and chair of the selection committee. “He thinks carefully about the fundamental principles of urban scholarship and how they can be applied in different contexts, particularly in cities across the globe.”

Bettencourt, whose appointment is effective July 1, 2017, also will be a professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolution and the College. He comes to the University from the Santa Fe Institute, a leading multidisciplinary research and education institute, where he is a professor of complex systems.

In his research, Bettencourt uses the growing availability of data worldwide on topics ranging from transportation to housing to understand cities in quantitative and predictive ways. He is dedicated to creating new urban theory to explain how cities thrive and the challenges they face, based on the integration of ideas from urban disciplines such as geography, economics and sociology with methodologies from the natural and computational sciences. He also focuses on understanding the role of innovation and technological change as a driver of economic growth and human development in cities, across the world and throughout history. One of his most influential research projects has helped explain the systematic association between the size of urban areas and higher rates of economic productivity and innovation, as well as higher costs of living and violent crime.

“The Mansueto Institute provides a truly novel opportunity to bring together researchers from an array of fields to understand not just the fundamentals of cities—in terms of concept and data—but also how such fundamentals can lead to new, innovative solutions to improve the lives and opportunities of their residents,” Bettencourt said. “The University of Chicago’s longstanding dedication to urban scholarship, and the sciences more broadly, provides an unmatched foundation for the institute.”

Bettencourt will lead the Mansueto Institute in supporting innovative urban research projects while providing rigorous training for the next generation of urban scholars and practitioners. His role will include making the institute a destination on campus for students, scholars and policymakers, with data and analytic tools that can be accessed virtually by researchers from around the world.

The Mansueto Institute will play a key role in the University’s comprehensive and integrative efforts to bridge urban scholarship, practice and engagement—an institutional commitment known as UChicago Urban.

Bettencourt holds a doctorate in theoretical physics from Imperial College London and held postdoctoral positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Heidelberg and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served on the 2015 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology working group on technology and the future of cities, and was a Kavli Fellow for the National Academy of Sciences’ Frontiers in Science Symposium. His work has received extensive coverage in the media, including The New York Times, Scientific American, Wired and New Scientist.

Janellen Huttenlocher, pioneering scholar in childhood development, 1932–2016

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 10:42 -0600

Janellen Huttenlocher, a pioneer in the field of childhood development whose research explored how children acquire language, understand space and learn math, died Nov. 20 in Chicago. She was 84.

The William S. Gray Professor Emeritus in Psychology, Huttenlocher was a researcher, teacher and mentor at the University of Chicago for four decades. Her research delved into a broad range of topics such as categorization, spatial coding and memory—themes scholars continue to explore. It was marked by groundbreaking work on the role of environment in the development of language skills, including the importance of parents talking to their young children often and in complex sentences.

“Janellen was a big ideas person and had a lot of influence because of that,” said Susan Levine, the Rebecca Anne Boylan Professor of Education and Society, who worked closely with Huttenlocher. “She was a pioneer in early childhood research, including her work on language development and the effects of parents.”

Huttenlocher’s impact in the field of psychology included co-authoring the books Making Space: The Development of Spatial Representation and Reasoning and Quantitative Development in Infancy and Early Childhood, as well as publishing hundreds of research articles. Her scholarship spanned 60 years from her first publication in 1956 to her last in 2015.

Her work on the role of environment in the development of language skills carry on through a multi-year project at UChicago on children and language funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The group of researchers includes Levine, Susan Goldin-Meadow, the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor; Stephen Raudenbush, the Lewis-Sebring Distinguished Service Professor; and Assoc. Prof. Lindsey Richland.

Kelly Mix, AM’93, PhD’95, a former student of Huttenlocher’s who is chair of the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, said Huttenlocher’s research explored a broad range of topics, but was always marked by a common-sense elegance that provided simple explanations about how children develop.

“I learned so much from watching how she thought about things, how she tackled problems,” Mix said. “Janellen would always say, ‘We came for the truth.’ She didn’t want the data to support what she already was thinking, but rather, reveal what was actually happening.”

‘An eye on both adult and kid’

Huttenlocher was born in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1932. She received her undergraduate education at the University of Buffalo and married Peter Huttenlocher shortly after graduating. The couple, which their family described as best friends, collaborated on research at UChicago, where Peter was a renowned neuroscientist, pediatric neurologist and professor.

Janellen Huttenlocher came to UChicago in 1974 after earnings a master’s and doctorate at Harvard University and serving as a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University.

Over the next four decades, her research explored many topics, including early mathematical thinking in children from different socioeconomic groups and the relationship between exposure and vocabulary and syntactic growth. Her work on mathematical development showed that children form mental models of sets and set transformations, and that learning of number words propelled their understanding. She also found that nonverbal mathematical thinking was much more similar across socioeconomic groups than verbal mathematical thinking.

With respect to language, Huttenlocher found that the more a parent spoke to a child, the more the child’s vocabulary grew. Her research also found that speaking in complex sentences rather than simple ones is important for the development of children’s language comprehension.

More broadly, Huttenlocher’s work challenged the idea a child’s ability to learn is driven primarily by inherited traits. In one example, her research found that children’s ability to learn fluctuates depending on whether they were spending time in school during the school year or out of school during the summer months. The work was cited as an argument for year-round schooling.

“She was really ahead of her time in wanting to understand childhood development and adult cognition,” said Nora Newcombe, the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, who collaborated with Huttenlocher in researching spatial development and spatial cognition. “She always kept an eye on both adult and kid. Even today they are very separate worlds.”

Besides her prolific career as a researcher, Huttenlocher helped draw top psychology scholars to UChicago and mentored and taught many students, influencing new generations of psychologists who are on the faculty at universities and colleges across the country. Even into retirement, she remained an active research collaborator and frequently attended colloquia and the weekly developmental seminar in UChicago’s Department of Psychology.

Newcombe described Huttenlocher as having a keen mind and a love of classical music and the arts. She also was deeply devoted to her children.

Huttenlocher was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by her children: Daniel, Anna and husband Andrew, Carl and wife Tami, and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 28 at Montgomery Place, 5550 S. Shore Drive, Chicago. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the University of Chicago Department of Psychology.

Rhodes scholar to examine higher education policy in southern Africa

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 15:30 -0600

Lilian Dube, AB’15, has won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford next fall. A native of Zimbabwe, Dube is the 51st student from the University of Chicago to receive the award and the second to win this year, joining Law School student Joshua Pickar.

She will pursue two master’s degrees at Oxford—one in education and the other in English—with an eye toward higher education policy and curricula in southern Africa, particularly the tensions that exist between the humanities and technical-skills education. Dube was named one of two Rhodes scholars from Zimbabwe this year, it was announced Nov. 26. She will join the Class of 2017 Rhodes Scholars, including the 32 U.S. students who were named on Nov. 19.

“Oxford has phenomenal support in both disciplines I seek to pursue,” said Dube. “I hope to give back to the education system from which I emerged.”

Dube is currently teaching high school in Hong Kong, where she has designed critical thinking and writing lessons on topics ranging from poetry to ethics.

“Lilian’s plan to integrate the humanities with the work of technical education in Zimbabwe shows great depth, reflection and insight into what humanistic study is for and what it can accomplish,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. “This is an example of the rich and unique perspectives that our international students bring to our curriculum, and how it can be applied after they leave the College. We commend Lilian on this great accomplishment.”

At UChicago she studied English literature, winning the Elsie F. Filippi Memorial Prize in Poetry for her thesis on violence and gender in the work of the Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta. During her time in the College, Dube served as course assistant for a graduate linguistics class researching Northern Ndebele, one of Zimbabwe’s 16 official languages, and translated portions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest into that language. In 2012, she participated in an eight-week summer program in Ukrainian language and culture at Harvard University, and the following year she studied Renaissance literature and Russian poetry at Oxford. She was a member of the International Students Advisory Board and the African and Caribbean Students Association, and served as a resident master’s assistant for Booth-Phoenix house.

Dube would eventually like to pursue doctoral studies in education, enabling her to one day teach literature, education and writing at the university level. “I would love to mentor well-rounded African academics who have the potential to produce regionally and globally impactful scholarship,” she said, “especially among traditionally underrepresented groups.”

Dube was assisted by the College Center for Scholarly Advancement in applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. The CCSA supports undergraduates and alumni through the highly competitive application processes for national scholarships and fellowships.

Charles E. Bidwell, scholar who studied sociology of education, 1932-2016

Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:15 -0600

Charles E. Bidwell, an influential sociologist and former chair of the Departments of Education and Sociology at the University of Chicago, died Nov. 6. He was 84.

Bidwell, AB’50, AM’53, PhD’56, whose time as student and teacher at the University spanned seven decades, was the William Claude Reavis Professor Emeritus. His research focused on the organization of educational institutions and how decisions are made, from the classroom to the community level. He chaired the Department of Education for a decade and later chaired the Department of Sociology. Bidwell also served as editor of the American Journal of Sociology and American Journal of Education.

“Charles Bidwell influenced the thinking of a generation of sociology of education scholars in significant ways,” said Sara Ray Stoelinga, AB’95, PhD’04, the Sara Liston Spurlark Director of the Urban Education Institute and a former student of Bidwell. “But the essence of Charles to me were the values he brought to his daily work: his deep commitment to the mentoring of students and faculty, his integrity and high standards, and his kindness.”

Bidwell’s son Charles L. Bidwell said his father’s interest in sociology took root while a student at the University’s Laboratory Schools when he did a project on the Tennessee Valley Authority. As a boy, Charles remembers driving around Chicago with his father, who would tell him stories about the neighborhoods and how they were changing.

“He was best storyteller I ever knew,” Charles said. “My Dad was fascinated by people and so intrigued by the way the city developed, its ethnic mix and all the standards, practices and values that groups brought to the city and how they interacted and mixed.”

Bidwell was born on Jan. 24, 1932 in Chicago. His initial connection to the University was through his mother, Eugenia Bidwell, who was a graduate of the Class of 1924. He graduated from the Laboratory Schools and enrolled at the University as a 14-year-old under a program created by then-President Robert M. Hutchins.

Bidwell received his bachelor’s degree in 1950 followed by a master’s and a doctorate from the University in 1953 and 1956, respectively. He was drafted in 1957 and spent two years as a researcher and speechwriter in Army headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he met his wife Helen. Bidwell was recruited to Harvard University by famed sociologist Talcott Parsons. But after two years there, he found the lure of Chicago to be strong and joined UChicago in 1961 as an assistant professor.

Bidwell spent the next four decades at the University. Edward O. Laumann, the George H. Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology, remembered his friend as incredibly bright and curious. He loved debating ideas, but never raised his voice and was the consummate gentleman.

“He was an exemplar of much of what we talk about today at the University around diversity, freedom of inquiry, and a willingness to pursue ideas and not celebrate petty wins,” Laumann said. “In his work, Charles was interested in trying to understand something so people could make it more successful, more effective.”

Bidwell’s scholarship has had considerable influence on the sociology of education, beginning with his seminal 1965 chapter, The School as a Formal Organization. Drawing upon and extending Willard Waller’s Sociology of Teaching, Bidwell built a series of scholarly works which sought to understand the motivations of the variety of actors in and around schools within the layered contexts of classrooms, schools, districts and the larger society. His work is known for its attention to micro-level factors, mechanisms that shape organizational behavior and evolution, and broad theoretical applications to other organizational forms.

Bidwell’s work reignited interest in the application of formal organizational theory to schools, influencing the thinking of a generation of scholars focused on the sociology of education. Later in his career, Bidwell extended his exploration of the formal organization of the school into inquiries that considered the work of teachers within schools and classrooms in more detail, drawing upon a variety of methods from grounded theory, to qualitative data collection, to social network analysis.

Bidwell shaped the Department of Education after the closure of the University’s School of Education, recruiting and retaining top scholars as chairman. He presided over the hiring of professors in economics, sociology, psychology and statistics, seeking a comprehensive research approach to education. He executed a similar strategy in the Department of Sociology, hiring six faculty who became the core of a new generation of Chicago sociology.

Bidwell was deeply involved as a teacher and mentor, chairing 39 dissertations and serving on another 30 committees in sociology alone. His students teach at major universities and serve in research centers focused on education.

Bidwell’s honors included the American Sociological Association’s Willard Waller Award, which recognizes distinguished scholarly contributions to the field of sociology of education.

Bidwell is survived by his son and daughter-in-law Rebecca Mullen and two grandchildren, Andrew and Emma. He is preceded in death by his wife. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

James Heckman earns international honor for his research on poverty

Mon, 22 Feb 2016 11:30 -0600

Nobel laureate James Heckman is one of this year’s recipients of the Dan David Prize, an international honor which encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research, for his scholarship on poverty.

Heckman was among three world-renowned economists recognized in the category of “combating poverty,” along with Profs. Sir Anthony Atkinson of the London School of Economics and François Bourguignon of the Paris School of Economics.

According to the Dan David Foundation in Tel Aviv, which announced the awards Feb. 11, Heckman’s work “promotes the importance of early childhood education, nurture and well-being. His findings fundamentally refocus policy attention, claim wide generality and will influence the discussion of global poverty worldwide.”

Prof. David Nirenberg, dean of the Division of the Social Sciences, praised Heckman’s work, saying, “It is impossible to overstate the significance of Prof. Heckman’s achievements and his enormous contribution in the fight to eradicate poverty. His research addresses key topics crucial to our understanding of socioeconomic success and human flourishing more broadly, and has led to effective policies for the improvement of child and social welfare in the United States and around the world.”

Heckman is director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago, which uses rigorous empirical research to determine effective human capital policies and program design. One of the center’s capstone projects is the Pritzker Consortium on Early Childhood Development, which finds that investing in early educational and developmental resources for disadvantaged families leads to a more capable, productive and valuable workforce.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized for what is, ultimately, a career-long passion—to understand the origins of inequality and the determinants of social mobility,” Heckman said. “This generous gift will help mobilize further research that will shed light on how we can best invest in early childhood development so that even our most disadvantaged populations can reach their highest human potential.”

Named after the late Dan David, an international businessman and philanthropist, this year’s prizes honor laureates in three categories: social history, combating poverty and nanoscience. Past recipients include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, former Vice President Al Gore, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, AIDS virus co-discoverer Robert Gallo and artist William Kentridge.

The laureates, who donate 10 percent of their $1 million prize money toward 20 doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships, will be honored at a May 22 ceremony at Tel Aviv University.

UChicago faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 16:20 -0600

A total of 19 faculty members recently have received named professorships or have been named distinguished service professors. Graeme I. Bell, Philip Bohlman, Eric D. Isaacs and Konstantin Sonin have received distinguished service professorships; and Daniel Abebe, Sian Beilock, Diane Brentari, Kathryn A. Colby, Nicolas Dauphas, Justin Driver, Robert D. Gibbons, Melissa L. Gilliam, Gary Herrigel, Aziz Huq, Michèle Lowrie, David Meltzer, Andrey Rzhetsky, Amir Sufi and Gary Tubb have received named professorships.

Biological Sciences Division

Graeme I. Bell, the Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, has been named the Kovler Family Distinguished Service Professor.

Bell studies the genetics of diabetes mellitus and the biology of the insulin-secreting pancreatic beta-cell. He cloned and characterized many of the genes involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism, including insulin, glucagon, glucose transporters and others.

He has won many honors in the field, including the 2013 Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement from the American Diabetes Association for his pioneering work in understanding the role of genetics in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. In 2012, he received the Manpei Suzuki International Prize for Diabetes Research. Bell is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As a core member of the University of Chicago Medicine’s diabetes genetics team, Bell works to personalize treatment based on a patient’s specific genetic defect. Many of these patients are children, and some can be treated with pills that compensate for the genetic defect, rather than with insulin shots. More than 1,500 patients and family members are now participating in genetic studies aimed at improving treatment through a better understanding of genetics.

Bell joined the UChicago faculty in 1986.

Kathryn A. Colby, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, has been named a Louis Block Professor.

Colby is an internationally renowned corneal surgeon, educator and researcher with expertise in a wide variety of corneal diseases, neoplastic diseases of the surface of the eye, and the implantation of artificial corneas. She has a longstanding interest in Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy, the most common cause for corneal transplantation in the United States and her studies in this area have run the gamut from basic science to clinical trials and novel surgical treatments to improve patient outcomes.

In addition, she has specific expertise in the management of ocular surface tumors, including conjunctival melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Colby spearheaded efforts to improve surgical techniques for a variety of implanted eye devices, including the Boston keratoprosthesis (artificial cornea) and the implantable miniature telescope, the only FDA-approved device to improve vision for patients with advanced macular degeneration.

Colby is an active teacher, who has trained hundreds of medical students, ophthalmology residents, clinical cornea and pediatric ophthalmology fellows, many of whom are leaders in ophthalmology. Colby was the founding director of the pediatric cornea service at Boston Children’s Hospital and is a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Cornea Society.

Colby joined the University of Chicago faculty in 2015.

Robert D. Gibbons, Professor of Medicine, Public Health Sciences and Psychiatry has been named the Blum-Riese Professor.

Gibbons is a nationally recognized authority on a range of statistical disciplines, including mental health statistics, environmental statistics, item-response theory and drug safety. Gibbons has led the Center for Health Statistics since it was established in 2010. From its beginning, the center has continuously earned federal funding and acclaim for its work applying complex statistical theory to inform public policy.

Gibbons has authored or co-authored nearly 300 peer-reviewed publications and six textbooks. In addition, he has served on several editorial boards, including the board of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Psychiatry.

Gibbons is a Pritzker Scholar, a fellow of the American Statistical Association and cofounder of its Mental Health Statistics section. He also is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the National Academy of Medicine. Gibbons has earned numerous important accolades, including lifetime achievement awards from the American Statistical Association, the American Public Health Association, and Harvard University, as well as two W. J. Youden Awards for outstanding contributions to statistics in chemistry.

He joined the UChicago faculty in 2010.

Melissa L. Gilliam, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics, has been named the Ellen H. Block Professor in Health and Justice.

Gilliam is section chief of family planning and contraceptive research at the University and serves as dean for diversity and inclusion for the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Division.

As an authority on contraception and adolescent health, Gilliam addresses the gynecologic needs of girls and adolescents, especially youth of color, sexual minorities and young people at risk for poor sexual and reproductive health. Gilliam says her work focuses on “marginalized populations, reduction of health disparities through community-based interventions and efforts to increase diversity and improve health policy.” She heads the University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health, also known as Ci3. She cofounded the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab, which develops games and digital media interventions for youth.

In October of 2015, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine, which honors those who have made major contributions to the fields of health and medicine and demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

Gilliam joined the University of Chicago faculty in 2005.

David Meltzer, Professor of Medicine, Economics and Public Policy, has been named the Fanny L. Pritzker Professor.

Meltzer’s research explores problems in health economics and public policy with a focus on the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis, and the cost and quality of hospital care. In his research, Meltzer uses economic analysis to address problems in health economics and public policy, focusing on the cost and quality of care, especially in teaching hospitals.

He is a national leader in the study of the relatively new specialty of hospital medicine. He heads the Hospitalist Scholars Program at UChicago, which provides training in this field and examines the economic forces that have fueled growth of this specialty. Meltzer also pioneered the development of the Comprehensive Care Physician model, in which physicians provide inpatient and outpatient care for patients who are at an increased risk for hospitalization. The model is designed to leverage the power of the doctor–patient relationship and improve outcomes while controlling costs.

Meltzer also directs the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, and chairs the Committee on Clinical and Translational Science. Meltzer also is director of the University of Chicago Urban Health Lab. In October of 2015, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Meltzer joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1996.

Andrey Rzhetsky, Professor of Medicine, has been named the Edna K. Papazian Professor.

Rzhetsky is a pioneer in the development of novel computational strategies that shed light on the complex genetic, molecular and environmental interactions involved in human health and disease.

His research utilizes powerful approaches to extract insights from big data. To harvest as much information as possible, his group runs data-mining projects that involve mathematical modeling and analysis of disparate datasets, such as electronic medical records, scientific texts and high-throughput experimental data. His models require dynamic collaboration with a range of experts in disease phenotypes, genetics, statistical modeling, epidemiology and the sociology of science. Rzhetsky also developed in invented the first automated literature extraction program for the prediction of molecular interactions.

Rzhetsky is the director of the Conte Center for Computational Neuropsychiatric Genomics, and is a senior fellow of both the Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology and the Computation Institute.

He serves as associate editor for numerous high-profile journals, including Nature Scientific Reports and PLoS Computational Biology.

Rzhetsky joined the UChicago faculty in 2007.

Humanities Division

Philip Bohlman, the Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of Music and in the College, has been named the Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History.

An ethnomusicologist, Bohlman studies a wide range of topics related to music and modernity, with a focus on Jewish music and the politics of religion and race in the music of the Middle East and South Asia. His other research interests include Song Loves the Masses (2016) a translation of the musical writings of the 18th-century philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder and the Eurovision Song Contest.

Bohlman is the author of Revival and Reconciliation: Sacred Music in the Making of European Modernity (2013), Focus: Music, Nationalism, and the Making of the New Europe (2011), Jewish Music and Modernity (2008), and World Music: A Very Short Introduction (2002). He also edited The Cambridge History of World Music (2013).

An active performer as well as a scholar, Bohlman is the artistic director of the New Budapest Orpheum Society. The eight-member Jewish cabaret troupe is the ensemble-in-residence of the Division of the Humanities at the University.

The group’s recent projects include As Dreams Fall Apart (2014), a CD that draws on music from Yiddish and German-Jewish films from the 1920s to the post-Holocaust generation of the 1950s, and for which the ensemble received a 2016 Grammy Award nomination. Bohlman and the New Budapest Orpheum Society were the recipients of the 2011 Noah Greenberg Award for Historical Performance from the American Musicological Society.

Bohlman joined the UChicago faculty in 1987.

Diane Brentari, Professor of Linguistics and in the College, has been named the Mary Werkman Professor.

Brentari, PhD’90, studies sign languages from around the world to better understand their similarities and differences and to illuminate the properties that all languages share. Her work has included projects on phonetics, phonology, morphology and prosody. She has developed the Prosodic Model of sign language phonology.

Currently, her work addresses cross-linguistic variation, particularly the differences and similarities among sign languages. She is also interested in the emergence of language, and is engaged in studies of the cognitive, social and cultural aspects of gesture, homesign systems and well-established sign languages.

Brentari is the author of Sign Languages: A Cambridge Language Survey (2010) and A Prosodic Model of Sign Language Phonology (1998), and editor of Foreign Vocabulary in Sign Languages: A Cross-linguistic Investigation of Word Formation (2001) and Morphology and its Relation to Syntax and Phonology (1998).

She is the director of the Sign Language Linguistics Laboratory and co-director of the Center for the Study of Gesture, Sign, and Language.

Brentari joined the UChicago faculty in 2011.

Michèle Lowrie, Professor of Classics and in the College, has been named the Andrew W. Mellon Professor.

A literary scholar with interests in ideology and forms of expression, Michèle Lowrie traces the history of political concepts and their transmission by figurative means. Her research focuses on Roman literature and political thought and ancient Rome’s continued resonance in modernity.

Her current projects include: the emergence of security as a concept in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Republic; the Roman tradition of representing civil war, in collaboration with Barbara Vinken; the exemplum and exceptional politics from Cicero to Augustus; “Thinking through Tropes,” a faculty seminar funded by the Neubauer Collegium that examines the representational methods for structuring traditions; and transformations in the public sphere between Cicero and Horace.

Lowrie has written two monographs and numerous articles, as well as edited four volumes. She is a recipient of the Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, a visiting research professorship at the Warburg-Haus in Hamburg, a fellowship from the Research Center for Cultural Theory and Theory of the Political Imaginary at the University of Konstanz, and fellowships from the Center for Advanced Studies at Ludwig-Maximilian’s University in Munich. Lowrie is currently in residence at the American Academy in Berlin as the Dirk Ippen Berlin Prize Fellow. Her sabbatical has received additional funding from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship.

Lowrie, who will become deputy dean for the Division of the Humanities on July 1, joined the UChicago faculty in 2009.

Gary Tubb, Professor of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and in the College, has been named the first Anupama and Guru Ramakrishnan Professor.

A leading Sanskrit scholar, Tubb examines the tradition’s poetics, grammatical forms and commentarial traditions. In addition to his scholarship of Sanskrit language and literature, Tubb studies the literary, religious and philosophical traditions of India.

Tubb is the author of Scholastic Sanskrit: A Handbook for Students (2007). He is an editor and primary contributor in the book Innovations and Turning Points: Toward a History of Kavya Literature (2014). Another book, On Poets and Pots: Essays on Sanskrit Poetry, Poetics and Philosophy, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

Alongside his teaching and research, Tubb is the faculty director of the University of Chicago Center in Delhi.

He joined the UChicago faculty in 2007.

Physical Sciences Division

Nicolas Dauphas, Professor of Geophysical Sciences and in the College and the Enrico Fermi Institute, has been named a Louis Block Professor.

A leading isotope geochemist, Dauphas draws upon the analytical and modeling methods of his training as an engineer to develop novel strategies for solving important scientific questions using naturally occurring isotope variations. He founded and directs UChicago’s Origins Laboratory to examine questions pertaining to the early evolution of the Earth and what meteorites reveal about the formation of planets, asteroids and comets.

His research has included an examination of how the rapid formation of Mars makes it more akin to a planetary embryo than a fully grown planet, and the discovery of microscopic remnants in a meteorite of a nearby supernova that exploded before the solar system was formed.

Just last year, a paper Dauphas published was named an Editors’ Choice by Science Magazine. The paper addressed a longstanding problem regarding the origin of Earth’s depletion in silicon and the origin of Earth’s core density deficit. His research bridges the gap between planetary sciences and astrophysics, as attested by his invitation to deliver the 2015 Spitzer lecture in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University.

Dauphas has received the American Geophysical Union’s Macelwane Medal, the European Association for Geochemistry’s Houtermans Medal, and the Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize. He also is an American Geophysical Union fellow and a David and Lucile Packard Foundation fellow.

Dauphas joined the UChicago faculty in 2004.

Eric D. Isaacs, Provost and Professor of Physics and in the College, has been named the Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor.

Isaacs’ distinguished research career as a condensed matter physicist has focused on quantum materials. His early research in developing synchrotron X-ray scattering techniques continues to play an important role in nanoscale scientific research.

Isaacs served as director of Argonne National Laboratory from 2009 to 2014. Under his leadership, Argonne researchers focused on solving the grand scientific and engineering challenges of our time—particularly the vital national priority of developing game-changing sustainable energy technologies. During that period he also played key roles in the creation of the Institute for Molecular Engineering and expanding the impact of the Computation Institute—two joint efforts of the University and Argonne.

From 2003 to 2008 he served as founding director of Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials.

Isaacs has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers and presentations. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has served on multiple national scientific advisory committees, including the Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee.

Isaacs joined the UChicago faculty in 2004 and became University provost in 2014.

Social Sciences Division

Sian Beilock, Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives and Professor of Psychology and in the College, has been named the Stella M. Rowley Professor.

Beilock, whose research focuses on topics at the intersection of cognitive science and education, explores the cognitive and neural substrates of skill learning as well as the mechanisms by which performance breaks down in high-stress or high-pressure situations.

Beilock is one of the world’s leading experts on the brain science behind “choking under pressure” and the many factors influencing all types of performance: from test-taking to public speaking to one’s golf swing. In her laboratory, the Human Performance Lab, Beilock employs a wide range of methods such as measures of performance, physiological measures of stress, and neuroimaging techniques. She also conducts studies in the classroom with students from early elementary school through college.

She has authored two books: How The Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel (2015) and Choke: What The Secrets Of The Brain Reveals About Getting It Right When You Have To (2010).

Beilock joined the UChicago faculty in 2005.

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Amir Sufi, the Chicago Board of Trade Professor, has been named the first Bruce Lindsay Professor of Economics and Public Policy.

In his research, Sufi focuses on finance and macroeconomics. His recent research on household debt and the economy has been profiled in The Economist, the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He also has presented this work to policymakers at the Federal Reserve, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, and the White House Council of Economic Advisors. This research forms the basis of his book co-authored with Atif Mian: House of Debt: How They (and You) Caused the Great Recession and How We Can Prevent It from Happening Again, which was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2014.

Sufi also is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and he serves as an associate editor for the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. His articles have been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Sufi graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. As a PhD student in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he received the Solow Endowment Prize for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching and Research.

He joined the UChicago faculty in 2005.

The College

Gary Herrigel, Professor of Political Science and in the College, has been named the Paul Klapper Professor.

Herrigel’s research interests include comparative political economy and alternative forms of governance in economic process and regulation throughout the developed and developing world. A common thread in his work has been an interest in the changing boundaries of firms and the political arrangements that govern them in Europe (particularly Germany), the United States and Japan.

Herrigel’s most recent book, Manufacturing Possibilities: Creative Action and Industrial Recomposition in the U.S., Germany and Japan, applies pragmatist theories of creative social action to contemporary industrial transformation processes.

Currently, he is completing a book on recursivity and governance in the globalization of German manufacturing. He also is beginning a project to explore the intersection of public and private governance architectures in environmental, health and safety regulation in the Norwegian offshore oil industry.

In the face of pessimism regarding the future of manufacturing in developed countries, Herrigel aims to understand and identify possibilities for continued growth and employment by conceiving of contemporary manufacturing in a globally interactive way.

In addition to the books Herrigel has authored and co-edited, he has written numerous articles and book chapters and has edited a special issue of the journal Enterprise and Society.

Herrigel joined the UChicago faculty in 1989.

Harris School of Public Policy Studies

Konstantin Sonin, Professor of Public Policy, has been named the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor.

A prominent scholar of Russian, Sonin’s research interests include political economics, development and economic theory and political economy. In recent years Sonin has focused on applying behavioral microeconomic concepts to an array of social and political phenomena, including corruption, dictatorship and the inequitable distribution of property.

His academic work has earned him three medals from the Global Development Network, best economist awards from the Russian Academy of Science in 2002-03, and the 2008 Ovsievich Memorial Prize in Mathematical Economics, given annually to a distinguished Russian scholar under 40.

Sonin’s papers have been published in leading academic journals of economics such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies and political science such as the American Political Science Review and American Journal of Political Science.

Sonin joined the UChicago faculty in 2015.

University of Chicago Law School

Daniel Abebe, Professor of Law, has been named the Harold J. and Marion F. Green Professor of Law.

Abebe’s research interests focus primarily on the relationship between the constitutional law of U.S. foreign relations, public international law and international politics; international courts and the structure of international organizations; and cyber warfare and presidential power.

He has taught foreign relations law, public international law, conflict of laws, international trade law, legal issues in international transactions, and refugee and asylum law, among other courses and seminars.

He is a contributor to a forthcoming book Why Comparative International Law Needs International Relations Theory, (Oxford University Press 2016) and two of his papers, “Cyber War, International Politics and Institutional Design” and “International Human Rights Law in Africa: Are Courts Effective,” will be published in the University of Chicago Law Review and the Virginia Journal of International Law respectively.

Abebe’s articles have appeared in the Chicago Journal of International Law, the Vanderbilt Law Review, the Stanford Journal of International Law, the Supreme Court Review, and the Michigan Journal of International Law.

Abebe clerked for Judge Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

He joined the UChicago Law School faculty in 2008.

Justin Driver, Professor of Law, has been named the Harry N. Wyatt Professor of Law.

Driver’s principal teaching and research interests include constitutional law, constitutional theory, education law and the intersection of race with legal institutions.

His writing has appeared in publications such as the University of Chicago Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Supreme Court Review, Harvard Law Review, and the New Republic.

His paper, “The Constitutional Conservatism of the Warren Court” (published in the California Law Review), was awarded the 2012 William Nelson Cromwell Article prize for the best article in American legal history published by an early career scholar.

Driver served as a law clerk to Judge Merrick B. Garland, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Driver joined the University of Chicago Law School faculty in 2014.

Aziz Huq, Professor of Law, has been named the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law.

Huq’s teaching and research interests include constitutional law, criminal procedure, federal courts and legislation. His scholarship concerns the intersection of institutional design and individual rights and liberties.

He has been published in both leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals. His recent research articles have won the Association of American Law Schools’ Junior Scholars Paper Competition Award in Criminal Law and have been selected for the Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum. His co-edited volume “Assessing Constitutional Performance” is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press this year.

Prior to UChicago, Huq litigated cases in both the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court. He also was a senior consultant analyst for the International Crisis Group, researching constitutional design and implementation in Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.

He clerked for Judge Robert D. Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Huq joined the UChicago faculty in 2009.

Lloyd Rudolph, leading scholar and teacher of South Asia, 1927-2016

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:00 -0600

Editor’s note: A memorial service for Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph will be held Nov. 12 at 1:30 p.m. in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Lloyd Rudolph, professor emeritus of political science, died Jan. 16, in Oakland, Calif. of prostate cancer. He was 88.

He had a long and distinguished career at UChicago, almost entirely in collaboration with his wife, Prof. Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, who died in December 2015. In 2014, the Rudolphs jointly received the Padma Bhushan Award, one of India’s highest civilian honors. The award recognizes distinguished service of a high order to the nation of India in any field.

“When it comes to thinking about contemporary India, one misses political analysts of the caliber of Lloyd and Susanne,” said colleague Dipesh Chakrabarty, the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History and South Asian Languages and Civilizations.

The Rudolphs had the capacity to express academic criticism of Indian politics in a way that communicated their concerns for the country—a trait that Charkabarty said he admired.

“They undertook their scholarly work in a true spirit of generosity,” Chakrabarty said. “They were almost proud of what they saw as the achievements of Indian democracy while being critical of what they saw as its shortcomings. They, unlike many other external observers, did not make Indians feel defensive about their nation, and that was one reason why they were deeply respected by Indian leaders and scholars,” Chakrabarty said.

The Rudolphs also were known for encouraging other South Asian scholars in a variety of disciplines, and sought to integrate into their work the insights provided by social science scholarship from outside political science.

“I was often surprised to find that they had actually read some of my historical essays and wanted to discuss them with me,” Chakrabarty said.

Rudolph’s research and teaching focused on institutional political economy, state formation, South Asian comparative politics, and Gandhian thought and practice. The Rudolphs co-authored or co-edited eight books together, starting with The Modernity of Tradition (1967), a seminal formulation of the problem of tradition and modernity that has shaped the study of India past and present over the last 50 years.

“The Modernity of Tradition turned out to be one of the most enduring interpretations of modernization of Indian society,” Chakrabarty said. “At a time when reigning theories of the 1950s blamed the so-called backwardness of India on the tenacity of her ‘traditional’ institutions like caste, the Rudolphs showed how traditional-seeming institutions had actually morphed through the colonial period to take on functions that one could only see as ‘modern.’”

Their later work on Indian capitalism, Gandhi and other topics were similarly informed by a deep sensitivity to India’s specific history and culture, he said.

Their other books include Education and Politics in India (co-editors, 1972), The Regional Imperative: The Administration of U.S. Foreign Policy Towards South Asian States (co-editors and contributing authors, 1980, reissued in 2007); Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma (1983); Essays on Rajputana (1984); and In Pursuit of Lakshmi: The Political Economy of the Indian State (1987).

More recently they published Reversing the Gaze: The Amar Singh Diary, a Colonial Subject’s Narrative of Imperial India (2000, 2005); and Postmodern Gandhi and Other Essays (2006).

In 2008, the Oxford University Press published a three-volume, career-spanning collection of the Rudolphs’ writings entitled Explaining Indian Democracy: A Fifty-Year Perspective.

Lloyd Rudolph also edited or co-edited and contributed to Cultural Politics in India (1984); The Idea of Rajasthan (1994), and Experiencing the State (2006).

In 2002, the Rudolphs co-delivered the University’s Nora and Edward Ryerson Lecture, during which they reflected on their intellectual lives and work together. The faculty selects each Ryerson Lecturer based on a consensus that a particular scholar has made research contributions of lasting significance.

Lloyd Irving Rudolph was born in Chicago on Nov. 1, 1927, and grew up in Chicago and Elgin. His mother, Bertha M. Rudolph, was co-operator of the Allied Shoe Company and a leading Hyde Park real estate owner and manager. After graduating from Elgin High School, he was appointed a cadet at West Point in 1945, but resigned his commission to attend Harvard University, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1948. From Harvard he also earned a master of public administration degree in 1950, and a PhD in political science in 1956. He married Susanne Hoeber Rudolph in 1952.

In 1956, the Rudolphs drove a Land Rover from Austria to New Delhi, their first trip to India, launching an almost 60-year partnership studying the country. In 2014, they published an account of that journey, Destination India.

Rudolph joined the Harvard faculty with Susanne in 1957, where they remained until their appointment to the UChicago political science faculty in 1964. At the University he served as chair of the Committee on International Relations and the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences and as chair of concentrations in political science, public policy, international studies and South Asian studies in the College. In 1999, Rudolph received UChicago’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. He retired as professor emeritus in 2002 along with Susanne.

The Rudolphs were famous for co-teaching courses, and they often lectured together. “They have been so deeply entwined with each other’s thinking and work that it becomes impossible to separate them, even though they each wrote and thought separately,” said Philip Oldenburg, PhD’74, an adjunct associate professor of political science at Columbia University. Oldenburg said that Lloyd was his mentor but treated him as a junior colleague from his first year in graduate school.

He recalled that the Rudolphs would often invite world-famous scholars, tenured colleagues and selected graduate students to social events at their home. “These were gatherings where conversation flowed across the reputation/experience barriers, and where serious discussions melded with conviviality,” Oldenburg said.

Together, the Rudolphs served on the defense committees of approximately 300 students. “The Rudolphs were generous with their time, ideas and resources,” said Kamal Sadiq, PhD’03, an associate professor of political science at University of California, Irvine, who had both Lloyd and Susanne as his advisors. Sadiq remembers fondly how a 15-minute meeting with Susanne would frequently flow into an extended meeting with Lloyd in the neighboring office.

“Soon both the Rudolphs were in an animated exchange over my dissertation. A multitude of concepts and facts were examined, and I would emerge smiling and enthused about the research ahead,” Sadiq said.

Lloyd Rudolph’s family had strong UChicago ties. Both of his brothers attended the University. His older brother Robert, X’46, MBA’54, died in 2012. His younger brother Wallace, AB’50, JD’53, was a professor and dean at two law schools. He practices law in Florida.

“As a University of Chicago PhD myself, I always felt inspired by both Lloyd and Susanne,” said nephew Alexander L. Rudolph, PhD’88, professor of physics and astronomy at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. “I saw them as the model of what an academic can be in a very old-school way, meaning that as a compliment. I also feel a certain pride in having received my PhD from their institution, albeit in a different field.”

The Rudolphs were active in the “Perestroika” movement in political science, a movement that challenged the idea that objective truth had to be divorced from time, place and circumstances. The Rudolphs vigorously promoted the value of area studies to scholarship.

In 2003, the Rudolphs’ colleagues convened a three-day UChicago conference in their honor, titled “Area Studies Redux: Situating Knowledge in a Globalizing World.” The conference, coming less than two years after the 9/11 tragedy, focused on the need to better understand other cultures, the role regions play in world politics, and the significance of “local knowledge” and area studies.

Rudolph received grants or fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, the American Institute of Indian Studies, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fulbright program.

Rudolph published in scholarly journals such as the American Political Science Review, World Politics, Journal of Asian Studies, Modern Asian Studies, and Daedalus. He also wrote opinion pieces for outlets such as Foreign Affairs, New Republic, New York Times Magazine, New York Times Book Review, Christian Science Monitor and The Nation.

Rudolph is survived by his three children: Jenny, who serves on the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Amelia, artistic director of Bandaloop, an Oakland, Calif.-based aerial dance company; and Matthew, a political scientist teaching at San Francisco State University; his three grandchildren: Gia (19), Maya (9) and Ry (4); and his younger brother Wallace Rudolph.

Arrangements for a memorial service are pending. Memorials may be made in honor of Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph to the American Institute for Indian Studies.

Terence Turner, anthropologist and human rights advocate for indigenous people, 1935-2015

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:15 -0600

Prof. Emeritus Terence Turner, a UChicago anthropologist who did research in the Amazon basin and became a proponent for the rights of indigenous people, died Nov. 7 in Ithaca, N.Y. He was 79.

In 1962 Turner began working among the Kayapo, who live in small villages in central Brazil—returning to the area on an almost annual basis. His research covered topics such as social organization and kinship; myth, ritual and history; political organization and mobilization; values and inter-ethnic relations.

His field work led to an interest in activism for the Kayapo people, who gave Turner the Kayapo name Wakampu during his earliest field visits. His wife, Jane Fajans, a professor of anthropology at Cornell University, said Turner’s activism began when the Brazilian Indian Agency asked him to investigate Brazilian nationals’ incursion into Kayapo territory for both gold mining and poaching. That activism was further fueled around opposition to the Karararao (now Belo Monte) dam in the mid 1980s, she added.

“Terry Turner was both a brilliant theoretical thinker about the nature of social systems and an indefatigable ally of the indigenous people among whom he worked as an ethnographer—the Kayapo people of Brazil,” said Michael Silverstein, the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology at UChicago.

“Increasingly he became a champion of the rights of the Kayapo and other indigenous peoples—not merely to survive, but to negotiate ways of flourishing as participants in the contemporary world,” Silverstein added.

Activism grows out of commitment to anthropology

In his field work, Turner saw the work of missionaries, loggers, miners and ranchers encroaching upon the Kayapo way of life. While a British TV crew was filming a documentary series in 1987 on disappearing cultures, he encouraged the Kayapo to trade access to their villages for the use of camera equipment, which they used to record their way of life.

“Terry’s activism grew organically out of his commitment to anthropology,” said Prof. Adam Smith, chair of anthropology at Cornell University. “It was his long-term relationship with the Kayapo that created the kind of trust that could lead to initiatives like the video project. Terry’s thoughtful approach offers an enduring lesson for scholars and activists alike.”

He helped encourage the Kayapo’s front-line activism in the global movement to protect the Amazon rainforest. In 1990, he founded the Kayapo Video Project to provide the community with film equipment and production training. This ongoing project will be honored in December with a United Nations Equator Prize at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris.

In addition, Turner was a translator for a delegation of Kayapo who joined Cree people from Canada in 1992 at a conference to talk about the problems indigenous people were having with electrical power developments that threatened their environment.

Silverstein said that Turner’s “devotion was returned in the most touching and heartfelt expressions of respect by his Kayapo and other allies.” In a recent letter to Turner, the Kayapo community’s leadership wrote: “You are a great warrior that taught us so much…and fought so hard for the Kayapo…Thank you for sharing your book of life with us and letting us be part of a beautiful chapter written with trust and friendship. To you, Wakampu, all of our respect and admiration.”

A closer look at the Kayapo

Born Dec. 30, 1935 in Philadelphia, Turner received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1957, a master’s in 1959 from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in 1965 in social anthropology from Harvard.

He joined the UChicago faculty in 1968 after serving as a research associate at the Museo Nacional do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro and as a visiting assistant professor of social anthropology at Cornell University. In 1982, he was named professor at Chicago. He retired in 1999 and became an adjunct and later visiting professor in anthropology at Cornell.

“He was an extraordinarily charismatic colleague, and one of the most intellectually gifted members of the (UChicago) Anthropology department,” said John Comaroff, a former UChicago colleague who is now a professor at Harvard.

“His are among some of the best essays written in late-20th-century anthropology,” said Comaroff. He hailed Turner’s “The Social Skin,” which analyzed the significance of body decoration among the Kayapo, as “an inspirational piece—one of many that combined a conceptual tour de force with a deep respect for thick description.”

A full version of “The Social Skin” was published in 1980 in the book, Not Work Alone. In an article published on the topic in 1979 in the magazine New Scientist, Turner explained how the way people choose to dress communicates meaning.

He pointed out that while adult Kayapo men wear little clothing, they adorn their bodies with paint and lip plugs. “A closer look at Kayapo bodily ornament discloses that the apparently naked savage just described is as fully covered in a fabric of cultural meaning as the most elaborately draped Victorian lady or gentleman,” Turner wrote in the New Scientist.

Turner was the president of Survival International U.S.A., a group that advocates for indigenous people, and a founding member of the American Anthropological Association’s Ethics and Human Rights Committees. In 1998, he received the Association’s Solon T. Kimball Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Application of Anthropology to Human Rights and Development Issues.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters Vanessa Fajans-Turner and Allison Fajans-Turner; sister Allison K. Turner; and sister-in-law Anne M. Turner.

Liz Thompson appointed chair of University of Chicago Charter School board

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 10:15 -0500

University of Chicago Trustee Liz Thompson has been appointed governing board chair of the University of Chicago Charter School.

As chair, Thompson will lead the UChicago Charter School’s 21-member governing board, which oversees the school’s four South Side campuses. Her appointment was effective Aug. 20.

“The University of Chicago Charter School is an important resource for our nearby neighborhoods, with educational outcomes and college acceptance rates that have made it a national model of urban school success,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “Liz Thompson brings an exemplary background in youth development and education issues, and she has the skill to work with the school leadership to help advance the ambitious vision for the Charter School.”

Thompson has served on the governing board since 2010. The board includes faculty and leaders from the University of Chicago and the Urban Education Institute, parents from each of the school’s campuses, and community, business and philanthropic leaders.

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to help guide the progress of a school that is delivering such impressive results for its students and is so committed to ensuring that every one of them not only earns a college degree, but becomes a critical thinker and leader in the process,” Thompson said. “The work the UChicago Charter School is doing is rewarding for me personally, but it’s also meaningful for the entirety of the South Side, and for what we want to accomplish for urban schools nationwide.”

Thompson brings to the role extensive experience in nonprofit organizations and expertise in youth development and education. In 1993, she was named founding executive director of City Year Chicago, the local chapter of a national service organization that served as a template for the AmeriCorps Program. She then led Family Star in Denver, Colo., one of the only Early Head Start Montessori programs in the nation. Thompson served on several local boards in Denver and San Diego, Calif., where she developed a greater understanding of youth and education issues and expanded her philanthropic activities. Prior to her work with nonprofits, she spent ten years with Ameritech Corporation.

“Liz is as inspirational as she is impressive,” said Sara Ray Stoelinga, the Sara Liston Spurlark Director of the Urban Education Institute. “She connects with our students and staff in a way that energizes us to work harder, and she brings to the governing board the kind of perspective, expertise and vision that will drive us forward. We are so fortunate to have someone of her stature as our partner in our work, on behalf of the 1,900 students at the Charter School.”

Thompson is a member of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees and its Women’s Board, is a director for the Museum of Science and Industry, and serves as co-chair of Purdue University’s Minority Engineering Program Advisory Panel. She is an alumna of the Non-Profit Leadership Program of Denver and the Leadership Greater Chicago Program, where she is also a member of the board of directors.

She lives outside Chicago with her husband, Donald Thompson, and their two children. She holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

Thompson succeeds Margot Pritzker, who has led the governing board since 2011. During Pritzker’s leadership of the board, UChicago Charter School has made marked progress toward its goal of 100 percent college graduation for its students, achieving four consecutive years of 100 percent college acceptance, as well as a college persistence rate that is second among all high schools in the Chicago area. Pritzker also has spearheaded a successful fundraising effort to build a new campus for the Charter School’s Woodlawn secondary program, which is expected to break ground in 2016.

Philip W. Jackson, education scholar committed to children’s flourishing, 1928-2015

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:40 -0500

As a leader in the field of education and curriculum studies, Philip W. Jackson was deeply concerned with the role of schools in the moral development of children.

“He believed in creating school experiences that provided children access to wonderful lives,” said Catharine Bell, PhD’07, Jackson’s former doctoral student and friend, “because he believed children have the capacity to see the wonderful in the ordinary.”

Jackson, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Education, Psychology and the College, died July 21 due to complications from cancer. He was 86.

The author of several influential books, he was internationally known as an expert on education pioneer John Dewey. In addition to his faculty appointment at the University, Jackson served in prominent administrative roles at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

Jackson joined the UChicago faculty in 1955 after earning his PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College. He served as dean of the Graduate School of Education and chairman of the Department of Education from 1973-75, when the graduate school was merged with the department. He continued as chairman after the merger until 1978.

Throughout his career, Jackson was involved in a number of critical research studies. Trained as a psychometrician, his early work, Creativity and Intelligence (1962), co-authored with J.W. Getzels, relied heavily upon traditional quantitative research methods that were the hallmark of educational psychology at the time.

The two researchers devised tests to measure children’s milestones and famously concluded that high IQ, as measured by tests, was not a mark of giftedness. An October 1960 Time magazine article summed up their findings: “The truly creative child who thrives on novelty is likely to find IQ tests boring and hence do poorly on them.”

‘A BETTER WAY TO UNDERSTAND CHILDREN’

A year’s research leave at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, from 1962-63, changed Jackson’s research trajectory forever. There, he met a primate researcher who described using behaviorist techniques to test and train baboons.

“Phil realized that that’s what he had been doing with children, treating them like animals in a behaviorist paradigm,” said David Hansen, AB’76, PhD’90, the Weinberg Professor in Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College and one of Jackson’s doctoral students during the 1980s. “It was a decisive moment; he realized there’s a better way to understand children, a better way than poking them with sticks.”

Jackson returned to Chicago and shifted to a more anthropological approach. His work Life in Classrooms (1968), based on a year spent observing a fourth-grade classroom, is one of the very first book-length qualitative studies in the field of educational research.

“It is greatly to his intellectual credit that he began to look at classrooms and teaching in a more holistic and imaginative way—one that, among other things, paid attention to the tacit messages that emanated from classrooms and from teachers’ work, matters that had been long ignored,” said Prof. Emeritus Robert Dreeben, Jackson’s colleague at the University for more than three decades.

In 1988, with funding from the Spencer Foundation, Jackson launched a multi-year, field-based research study exploring the role of schools in children’s moral development. Jackson, Hansen and Robert Boostrom, PhD’91, then a doctoral student, observed the classrooms of 18 teachers from six public and private neighborhood schools and brought them together twice a month for dinner followed by open-ended discussion.

“Phil was interested in the positive human influence that the person in the role of teacher can have,” Hansen said. “The discussions were just extraordinary—they were about whatever the teachers wanted to talk about, the most significant and human aspects of being a teacher, the challenging moments and the beautiful moments.”

The study became the book The Moral Life of Schools (1993), which examined the ways that school settings affect children as they develop attitudes about themselves, their education and their society.

Jackson’s influence on the teachers was profound, said Bell, a high school English teacher at the Laboratory Schools who participated in the study and later became one of Jackson’s doctoral students. “[The teachers] decided that ultimately students are always watching, so everything you do has moral content,” Bell said. “As a teacher you have to strive to put on your best self.”

FROM SCHOLAR TO ADMINISTRATOR

Jackson rose to many leadership roles in his field. He served as president of the American Educational Research Association from 1989-90, was a member of the National Academy of Education, and for several years edited the American Journal of Education.

In addition to his career in teaching and research, Jackson spent several years in administration at the Laboratory Schools. He served as principal of the nursery school during the mid- and late-1960s and as director of pre-collegiate education in from 1970-75.

“It wasn’t a path my dad had planned or sought,” said his son David Jackson. “It was something he undertook out of the huge loyalty he felt toward the University and [then-President] Edward Levi.”

During Jackson’s time as director, Lab School teachers pushed for unionization. Jackson found himself caught between his own union sympathies and his duties as an administrator. “He was really in the hot seat, trying to preserve the institution and the school during a tumultuous period,” David said.

David said he would sometimes ask his father if he regretted the years away from teaching and research. “He told me, ‘not at all,’” he recalled. “He said he never could have been the researcher or writer he became if he had not held in his own hands the lives of students, families and teachers in the way a school administrator does. He really absorbed into his bones that profound responsibility.”

‘A force of nature’

Born Dec. 2, 1928, in Vineland, N.J., Jackson was adopted and raised by a family of chicken farmers in rural southern New Jersey. His adoptive parents could not but notice his irrepressible talents, particularly in singing and poetry recitation. At age 6, Jackson began performing a vaudeville act in movie theatres where, between reels, he would recite poems and put on a snake-charmer act, complete with turban, pantaloons and a jersey garden snake coaxed from a basket.

In 1948, Jackson married his high school sweetheart, Josephine D’Andrea, then served six months in the Navy. He had no ambitions of higher education until a fellow sailor encouraged him to attend community college. Jackson enrolled at what is now Rowan University in New Jersey, earned a master’s degree from Temple University and continued on to Columbia University.

Jackson became an internationally recognized expert on John Dewey, founder of the Laboratory Schools. He wrote two widely praised books on Dewey’s philosophy of education, including John Dewey and the Lessons of Art (1998) and John Dewey and the Philosopher’s Task (2002), and served as president of the John Dewey Society from 1996-98.

“He was very taken by Dewey’s focus on experience,” said Hansen, “particularly the idea that you can’t keep piling things onto children, like pouring things down a funnel. You need to engage them in experiences in the classroom that allow them to take intellectual ownership and see learning as alive and dramatic and vivid.”

Jackson retired from the University in 1998, but his quest for learning never stopped. “He was extremely curious,” said David Jackson, who noted that during the last phase of his career his father taught himself German. “His life was a constant effort to press past what he already knew toward what he didn’t.”

Throughout his life, Jackson had a magnetism that drew people to him. “I think he’ll be remembered by every single educator who met him as an extraordinary, brilliant and passionate person,” Hansen said. “He was a force of nature, a man full of life.”

Jackson is survived by his wife, Josephine Jackson; his children David Jackson, Nancy Rudolph and Steven Jackson; and his granddaughter, Hannah Rudolph.

Plans for a memorial service will be forthcoming.

Neil Guterman reappointed as dean of the School of Social Service Administration

Tue, 26 May 2015 13:49 -0500

Neil Guterman, the Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor at the School of Social Service Administration, has been reappointed as dean, President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Eric D. Isaacs announced. His second five-year term will begin July 1.

Guterman is an internationally recognized expert on issues related to child abuse and violence prevention. As dean, he has developed new initiatives in global social welfare and urban research and practice. He recruited new faculty representing multiple areas of expertise, including several with international social welfare experience, and established new educational exchange programs in India, China and Hong Kong.

“We are confident that Neil’s ongoing leadership will continue and enhance the legacy of SSA as a leader in the fields of social work and social welfare, training scholars, practitioners and leaders who have shaped these fields nationally and internationally,” Zimmer and Isaacs wrote in a message announcing Guterman’s reappointment as dean.

Guterman said it is a great honor to serve as SSA dean, and he is proud of elevating interdisciplinary scholarship that tackles some of the most complicated social problems, like violence, poverty, homelessness and HIV risk. Programs at the University, such as Crime Lab, the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention, the Employment Instability and Family Well-Being and Social Policy Network, and the STI/HIV Intervention Network have been either established or expanded under his leadership.

“We’ve partnered strongly across the University to advance its urban engagement agenda,” said Guterman. “We’ve always had deep connections to the city of Chicago through our field and research partnerships. We’re also now more globally engaged with a new program concentration, educational exchanges and research studies in international social welfare,” he added.

Guterman joined the UChicago faculty as a professor in 2006, and was first appointed dean at SSA in 2010. As director of the Beatrice Cummings Mayer Program in Violence Prevention at SSA, he established the nation’s first violence prevention training program in a school of social work. He is the author of Stopping Child Maltreatment Before It Starts: Emerging Horizons in Early Home Visitation Services (2001), and numerous research articles on child abuse prevention, at-risk families and children’s exposure to community violence.

Guterman said SSA’s international work holds great potential in the coming years.

“China is looking to leading universities around the world to help them to develop their social work systems and the way they train professionals to lead those systems,” said Guterman. “We are one of the leading universities providing expert guidance as they establish their social work education system. It’s a historic moment for that country, and we’re excited to be playing a key role in fostering the birth of modern social work in China.” Guterman wants to continue to expand SSA’s global engagement and has recruited faculty with international social welfare expertise.

Guterman said he also wants to encourage development of preventive approaches for social problems and to expand the study of evidence-based solutions.

“In the next five years, we will also devote ourselves to improving the educational quality and support for our students, strengthening our lead role in educating the best-trained social welfare professionals in the world,” said Guterman. “We want to bring in the best and brightest and prepare them for careers of service. The work they take on is very challenging, and we want to well equip them and provide as much support as we can.”

Guterman earned his PhD in social work and psychology from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in social work in clinical practice with families and children from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

UChicago celebrates the promise of Chicago youth

Fri, 22 May 2015 15:10 -0500

Though Daweed Abdiel always has been intellectually curious and a good student, college wasn’t always on his radar. Most of his older family members had started college but never finished. In his first two years of high school, “I wasn’t thinking about college too much,” he said. “I was a good student, but I had no direction.”

That changed after Abdiel joined the Upward Bound program offered through the Office of Special Programs-College Prep. Staff members who lead the program encouraged him to apply to colleges. “This program helped me determine I wanted a small liberal arts college.” With Upward Bound showing the way, he got what he wanted. In August, Abdiel will attend Denison University with the support of two prestigious awards: a Gates-Millennium Scholarship and a Posse Scholarship.

“We have young people who develop a real sense of confidence and self-awareness about who they are and their ability to meet challenges and be successful,” said Dovetta McKee, director of the Office of Special Programs-College Prep. “It changes their mindset about the leadership role they can play in their communities, and makes them models for young people who follow behind them,” she said.

Abdiel was one of about 60 Chicago high school seniors honored at the 2015 Student Recognition Night, sponsored by the Office of Civic Engagement. The seniors took part in one of two programs: Upward Bound or the Collegiate Scholars Program, which prepares talented Chicago Public Schools students to succeed in the nation’s top colleges and universities.

In addition, University students who have served with the Neighborhood Schools Program received recognition for their work in local public schools and community programs. All three efforts are part of UChicago Promise, the University’s multi-pronged effort to increase college access and success for Chicago youth.

Increasing college access and success starts young. The Neighborhood Schools Program connects 375 UChicago students with 3,000 students in the surrounding neighborhoods. Many are still grade-schoolers, and tutoring can make a real impact on their future prospects.

“We leaned on NSP quite a lot and they came through,” said Ed Kajor in a video shown at the event. Kajor, a learning behavior specialist at Burke Elementary in Washington Park, credits tutoring from volunteers like Amanda Weisler, a third-year sociology major, for boosting the school’s scores on standardized tests.

“Our program is one of a few that is truly receptive to local school needs, said Shaz Rasul, director of community programs in the Office of Civic Engagement. “If a principal tells us she needs help with third grade, we will find tutors for the third grade who can be available during the school day. This is important because schools are often judged by what happens in the classroom, not enrichment time after school.”

University students benefit, too. Real-world experience has led more than one NSP volunteer into a career in education, including Sara Stoelinga, clinical professor of the Committee on Education, who was honored at the event with the Don York Faculty Initiative Award, and keynote speaker Geoffrey Aladro AB’06, who is currently Miami-Dade’s Teacher of the Year. Stoelinga also received a 2015 Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

When Aladro discovered his long-held dream of corporate work wasn’t all he thought it would be, he changed gears and chose teaching because of his NSP experiences. “I haven’t really worked since I became a teacher,” he told the crowd, “because I love my work.”

Fourth-year Jonathan Fifer, who volunteered with NSP throughout his College career, intends to follow in their footsteps. His next goal will be to earn a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he’ll study early childhood education. “I’ve always been interested in the little kids,” he said. “Even when they’re crying or being bad, you can see their thought process. I can’t be mad at them.”

While teaching high school students about the college application process gets them started on their higher education journey, the Upward Bound and Collegiate Scholars programs also support young people’s intellectual growth. Ivelise Colon, a Collegiate Scholar, has chosen Whittier College’s alternative liberal arts program, where she will design her own major, incorporating elements of psychology, sociology and early childhood education. “I want to do my own thing,” she said.

“The hallmark of Collegiate Scholars is the interaction with faculty. We are one of very few institutions in the country where there is intentional engagement between University faculty and public school students from across the city,” said Abel Ochoa, interim director of the Collegiate Scholars Program. “It really elevates a student’s frame of thinking to be taught by a professor who has written a textbook, done concrete research, or is considered a world-renowned expert in his field.”

Like Colon, Abdiel has seen his intellectual interests shift over time, from physics to chemistry with a generous side helping of economics and African-American Studies. He credits his Upward Bound mentors for exposing him to the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics and for staying the course with him as his interests evolved. “They won’t tell you what to do, but they’ll ask you questions,” he said. “They’ll help you find your passions.”

Fourth-year hopes fellowship will lead to career addressing disparities in education

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:15 -0500

When Mikaela Betts earned a scholarship in fifth grade to an exclusive California private school, her eyes were opened to educational disparities based on income—and on race.

Betts, whose mother is African American, was among only a few students of color; she found herself navigating a world of wealth and privilege very different from her public school upbringing. “I was one of the lucky few who got that opportunity, and I’m grateful,” said Betts, a fourth-year majoring in sociology and public policy. “But the experience made me very cognizant of the inequalities between school systems.”

Betts never forgot her public school peers, many of whom were also racial and ethnic minorities from low-income families. It bothered her that they would not enjoy the same resources and opportunities. “That’s when I decided I wanted to do something about public education,” Betts said. “And I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

Betts has won the Woodrow Wilson Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color—one of only eight fellows selected this year from a national pool of 48 applicants. The fellowship will provide a stipend to pursue a master’s degree in education as well as mentoring and professional training in a high-need public school.

Betts will attend the two-year University of Chicago Urban Teacher Education Program this fall, and after graduation she hopes to teach middle school English language arts in Chicago. “Middle school can be a ‘make you or break you’ kind of time,” Betts said. “It’s so important to show students how much they are valued; it’s an ideal time to get involved in their lives.”

She already has a taste of what that work would be like. Betts is a teacher’s assistant at Fiske Elementary School, a placement she received through UChicago’s Neighborhood Schools Program. For the past three years, she’s coached girls softball at the University of Chicago Woodlawn Charter School.

Eventually, Betts would like to move into an administrative role that would involve closer interaction with education policy. “She has great potential to teach, to instruct teachers, and to manage schools and even school systems,” said Ross M. Stolzenberg, professor of sociology, who served as Betts’ thesis advisor. “She shows outstanding motivation to use her social and intellectual skills to build organizations that help and protect others who have suffered from disadvantage.”

For now, Betts’ sights are set on effecting change in the classroom. “I’ve realized more and more the impact that a good education has on life outcomes,” she said. “I think the biggest crime is that there are such great disparities in education—I keep asking, ‘How do we make it better? How do we spread the wealth?’”

Camille Ann Brewer named executive director for Black Metropolis Research Consortium

Wed, 18 Mar 2015 14:21 -0500

Camille Ann Brewer has been named executive director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, a Chicago-based association of libraries, universities and other archival institutions that document African American and African diasporic culture, history and politics, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago.

“Our mission is to make accessible the holdings of our 11 BMRC member institutions to those who wish to conduct primary source research,” said Brewer. As the new executive director, Brewer brings 20 years of professional experience in the field of cultural heritage management. Her management expertise comes from experience in a range of areas, including museum and private fine art collections, artists’ papers and libraries.

For 15 years, Brewer operated her own business, CAB Fine Art, providing fine art advising and collection management services for individual, nonprofit and corporate clients. She also has worked on projects with the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Research for Arts and Culture at the National Center for Creative Aging, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Detroit Children’s Museum and the estate of Max Roach.

Brewer earned a BFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Valdosta State University and an MFA from the University of Michigan. Before she began her appointment as executive director of the BMRC, Brewer was an adjunct professor at Chicago State University, teaching weaving in the art department.

The University of Chicago has been the consortium’s host institution since 2006, when Danielle Allen, former professor of classics, political science, social thought and dean of Humanities, founded the BMRC. The Office of the Provost serves a fiduciary role for the organization, as it secures funding to assist its member institutions in making collections accessible.

The consortium has received generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Council on Library and Information Resources and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which on Friday, March 13 announced renewed funding for its summer fellowship program.

Sian Beilock, vice provost for academic initiatives and professor of psychology, and Jacqueline Stewart, professor of cinema and media studies and the BMRC’s faculty adviser, support the organization’s goals and initiatives. Stewart serves as principal investigator on grant proposals. Susan Boone, director of administration and operations in the Office of the Provost, is a BMRC board member and treasurer.

“Chicago’s South Side plays an important role in African American history and culture,” said Provost Eric D. Isaacs. “The University of Chicago is proud to serve as the host to the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. We are delighted that Camille is leading this effort.”

Leroy E. Kennedy, BMRC board president, welcomes new leadership for the BMRC. “We are excited about Camille’s plans for engaging the community along with our member institutions and taking the BMRC to next level of public programming.”

As Brewer forges relationships with the consortium’s member institutions, she also is focusing the BMRC’s energies on its successful summer fellowship program. Since the program’s inception, 55 scholars have taken advantage of the opportunity to work with the consortium members’ repositories.

The BMRC will welcome 15 new fellows this summer based on its 2015 thematic cohorts. The Great Migration will be the subject of the first cohort. This year is the centennial of the beginning of the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans migrated from the rural South to cities in the North, Midwest and West. “Without the Great Migration, the Black Metropolis, as we know and understand it, would not exist,” said Brewer. “Therefore, we plan to begin this next cycle of fellowships investigating this important and pivotal aspect of Chicago’s history,” she added.

The second theme for 2015 is journalism, publishing and writing. This year is the 75th anniversary of Ebony magazine, the 110th anniversary of The Chicago Defender and the 65th anniversary of Gwendolyn Brooks receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

The thematic cohorts for the summer fellowships in 2016 will focus on politics and on the medical arts. In 2017, the first cohort will explore the impact of Chicago gospel music on American pop, jazz and other musical genres, with the second cohort focusing on architecture, design and urban planning.

Sara Stoelinga appointed director of UChicago Urban Education Institute

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 13:00 -0500

The University of Chicago Urban Education Institute has a new leader, following the appointment of Sara Ray Stoelinga as the Sara Liston Spurlark Director. Stoelinga will oversee all aspects of UEI, which combines research, practice and policy to improve pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade education for children in urban schools across the country.

Stoelinga succeeds Prof. Timothy Knowles, who has been appointed Pritzker Director of UChicago Urban Labs, a new initiative that complements UEI in producing rigorous research to inform policy on a broad set of urban issues. Knowles also will serve as chairman of UEI, providing institutional oversight and supporting Stoelinga in her role as director.

“UEI is fortunate to have Sara take the helm,” said Knowles, the John Dewey Clinical Professor in the Committee on Education. “She was instrumental in the conceptualization of UEI and is a gifted leader. UEI’s work to improve the quality of schooling nationwide will be in excellent hands.”

“Sara has been instrumental to UEI’s success, and as the director she will deepen UEI’s influence on schooling and educational outcomes across the country,” said Provost Eric D. Isaacs.

Stoelinga is an accomplished leader, scholar and teacher. She has served in a broad range of roles at UEI, most recently as senior director and clinical professor in the Committee on Education. For the last four years, she has co-led all aspects of UEI, including the Consortium on Chicago School Research, the UChicago Charter School, the UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program and UChicago Impact, for which she serves as board chair.

“I am inspired each and every day by my colleagues at UEI—by their focus on the mission, and by how deeply they believe that students can achieve at high levels,” said Stoelinga. “UEI’s mission of creating knowledge to produce reliably excellent urban schooling is among the most critical levers we have to reduce social inequality, better society, and transform the lives and trajectories of young people growing up in urban communities.”

A UChicago graduate, Stoelinga earned her bachelor’s degree and PhD in sociology. She has written and spoken extensively on urban schooling, publishing numerous articles and two books focused on teacher leadership. She has taught with the Urban Teacher Education Program, in the College and in the Graham School. Recently she developed a series of courses on urban schooling for College students enrolled in UChicago Careeers in Education Professions, and this year conceptualized and taught one of the University’s first MOOCs on the history of public schooling and school reform in the United States.

UEI achieves its mission through four primary components:

The UChicago Consortium on Chicago School Research leads UEI’s applied research effort, informing practice, policy and the public about schooling in Chicago.
The UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program prepares exemplary teachers for Chicago Public Schools while empirically testing a model for urban teacher preparation and support.
The UChicago Charter School educates 1,900 primarily African American students from Chicago’s South Side, with a singular dedication to ensuring every student completes college. UChicago Charter had 100 percent of seniors admitted to college the past three years and the highest college enrollment rate of non-selective schools in the city of Chicago in 2014.
UChicago Impact provides pre-K–12 schools, school systems and states with the highest-quality, research-based diagnostic tools and training designed to produce reliably excellent schooling.

Former director of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to receive Alumni Medal from UChicago

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:30 -0500

The University of Chicago Alumni Association and the Alumni Board of Governors announce that leading physicist, Edward C. Stone, SM’59, PhD’64, will be awarded the Alumni Medal at the 74th Annual Alumni Awards Ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2015, in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave.

The Alumni Medal recognizes achievement of an exceptional nature in any field, vocational or voluntary, covering an entire career. In addition to the Alumni Medal, the University will recognize distinguished alumni and faculty members who have made exceptional contributions to the University, to their professions and to their communities, across five different categories. This year’s 14 alumni award recipients include a visionary in the media industry, a renowned mathematician, a pre-eminent psychologist and a benefactor of the arts in Chicago.

The awards ceremony, which is free and open to the public, is a highlight of the University of Chicago’s Alumni Weekend. The 2015 alumni award recipients include:

Edward C. Stone, SM’59, PhD’64, Alumni Medal
Edward C. Stone is the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology and vice provost for Special Projects. He was director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1991 to 2001, and since 1972, he has served as the chief scientist for the Voyager Mission. From 1985 to 2009, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the California Association for Research in Astronomy, which is responsible for building and operating the W. M. Keck Observatory. Stone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the past president of the International Academy of Astronautics and past vice president of COSPAR. He also serves on the board of the W. M. Keck Foundation. Among his numerous scientific awards and honors, Stone received the National Medal of Science in 1991.

Louis Gordon Crovitz, AB’80, Professional Achievement Award
Louis Gordon Crovitz is a visionary in the media industry at a time of rapid change. He is the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, where he led the transformation to digital from print publishing and where he writes the weekly “Information Age” column. He is also co-founder of Press+, a software service that enables hundreds of news publishers around the world to generate digital subscription revenues.

David Eisenbud, SB’66, SM’67, PhD’70, Professional Achievement Award
David Eisenbud is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. Eisenbud’s mathematical interests range widely over commutative and non-commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, topology and computer methods. His contributions include research, mentoring students, writing influential texts and creative leadership in the mathematics community.

Paul Ekman, EX’52, Professional Achievement Award
Paul Ekman, professor emeritus in psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, is the researcher and author best known for furthering our understanding of nonverbal behavior, encompassing facial expressions and gestures. A pre-eminent psychologist and co-discoverer of micro expressions with Friesen, Haggard and Isaacs, Ekman was named by TIME Magazine in 2009 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Harvey Levin, JD’75, Professional Achievement Award
Harvey Levin is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and celebrity reporter. He is the founder of entertainment news website TMZ.com. Prior to this, Levin worked in various legal roles in the entertainment industry. He has been in front of the camera as a legal reporter and host of The People’s Court.

Paul Beaver, AM’75, PhD’76, Public Service Award
Paul Beaver is a conservationist who is best known for his work in the Amazon and the protection of habitat and the social dimensions of conservation. He founded Amazonia Expeditions in 1981, one of the most respected Amazon tour companies in Peru. His company has become a vital member of the indigenous communities, constructing a clinic and school as well as creating a foundation to provide scholarships.

Howard Gottlieb, PhD’47, Public Service Award
Howard Gottlieb is general partner of Glen Eagle Partners, Ltd., a family private investment firm. He is a major contributor to the extended community in Chicago, serving on several trustee boards, and is credited for helping shape the landscape of the arts in the city. As an accomplished violinist, much of his work has focused around music.

Juri Taalman, SB’63, Public Service Award
Juri Taalman is a partner at the law firm of Brignole, Bush & Lewis, following ten years of international experience, which included serving as the American Bar Association’s liaison to the Republic of Estonia. When Estonia gained independence, Taalman was instrumental in its development of both legal and commercial structures as the special advisor to the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia.

Kathleen Abbott, AB’95, Alumni Service Award
Kathleen Abbott received the Young Alumni Award in 2005 for her service to the Bay Area Alumni Cub, and has continued to be a strong leader even as she transitioned from San Francisco back to Chicago. She held many different leadership roles for the Chicago Club, and has been a great mentor to the current board members as well as students through the Student Alumni Committee.

Christopher Rupright, AB’86, Alumni Service Award
Christopher Rupright has been noted as an alumnus who leads by example, and who takes action without seeking recognition for his efforts. He and his wife have put the University at the center of their philanthropic goals and have taken a holistic approach, from interacting with prospective students, parents and peers; sitting on the Visiting Committee on the College and Student Activities and in many other ways.

Sean Ahmed, AB’06, Young Alumni Service Award
Sean Ahmed started “Go Maroons” with several classmates during their undergraduate studies. As sports editor of the Maroon newspaper, Sean was able to leverage his close ties to the athletic teams and find a way to fill a gap in delivery of information to alumni, parents and friends, who weren’t able to watch the teams on game days, through his broadcast and commentary.

Gahan Christenson, AB’03, Young Alumni Service Award
Gahan Christenson has been a consistent leader in the alumni community in the Washington area, where she is a trial attorney for the federal government. Alumni in the D.C. area look to Christenson as a source of information for all things UChicago-related, allowing for robust and innovative programming for community members.

Leo Kocher, MBA’87, Norman Maclean Faculty Award
Leo Kocher was hired in the fall of 1979 as a faculty member in the University of Chicago’s Department of Physical Education and Athletics. At UChicago he has served as an assistant football coach, taught in the Physical Education curriculum and has been the head coach of the Intercollegiate Wrestling Program for his 35 years with the University.

William C. Wimsatt, Norman Maclean Faculty Award
William C. Wimsatt is the Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and is on the Committee on Evolutionary Biology and the Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science. Wimsatt teaches and publishes work centered on the philosophy of the inexact sciences and the study of complex systems. He is recognized for his ability to help students contextualize problems that are otherwise too “messy” to be tractable within any one academic field, using an interdisciplinary lens.

Nizar Ibrahim named 2015 TED Fellow

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 15:49 -0600

Paleontologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Nizar Ibrahim has been named a 2015 TED Fellow—the first paleontologist in the history of the program.

Ibrahim, a postdoctoral scholar in organismal biology & anatomy, searches through ancient riverbeds in the deserts of Northern Africa for insights about life in the time of the dinosaurs. He has contributed to numerous major discoveries, including Spinosaurus, a semi-aquatic predatory dinosaur that was larger than the T. rex, and a 95 million-year-old flying reptile with an 18-foot wingspan.

As one of 21 newly appointed 2015 TED Fellows, Ibrahim joins a network of more than 300 international thought leaders who have demonstrated remarkable achievement and impact in their fields. Fellows are drawn from all disciplines, from music to astrophysics to cancer research.

“It’s a wonderful award,” Ibrahim said. “It’s a real privilege and I am very excited to be part of this group of mavericks, frontier pushers and innovators.”

TED fellows will participate in either the 2015 TED or TEDGlobal conferences, where they will present their own TED talk. Short, powerful and thought-provoking, TED talks have been viewed online more than one billion times worldwide. Previous TED speakers have included luminaries such as Steve Jobs, Malcolm Gladwell and Stephen Hawking.

This won’t be Ibrahim’s first experience with TED. This past November, he gave a talk for TED Youth at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City.

“I really believe in putting your research out there and sharing it with as many people as possible, especially young people and budding scientists,” he said. “I don’t think scientists should work in a bubble. I hope that the fellowship will allow me to share my love for science, adventure and exploration with as many people as possible.”

The fellowship also offers networking opportunities with other TED fellows, unique skills-building workshops, mentorship from world-renowned experts and the myriad resources of the TED community. Many past TED fellows have been awarded prestigious prizes.

“This large-scale exposure is great news for paleontology, as well as Africa, where I carry out most of my fieldwork,” Ibrahim said. “I also hope that my work with TED is going to inspire future explorers and scientists.”

Ibrahim is still planning the subject of his TED talk, but he already has some ideas.

“It’s going to include a journey into the deep past of our planet—that much I can tell you,” he said.

George Hillocks, Jr., teacher of teachers, 1934-2014

Fri, 05 Dec 2014 11:14 -0600

George Hillocks, Jr., a teacher of teachers at the University of Chicago for more than 30 years, died in hospice on Nov. 12. He was 80. A memorial service for Hillocks will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. in Bond Chapel.

Hillocks, professor emeritus in English language and literature, taught in the University’s Department of Education and trained future English teachers in the Master of Arts in Teaching program from 1971 to 2002.

His daughter Marjorie, also a teacher and a former faculty member at the Lab Schools, once had an office in Blaine Hall around the corner from her father’s. She remembers Hillocks as someone who “really did love his students…He could get very easily emotional when talking about his students,” she said. He also had passionate opinions about education—“and he wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions.”

Throughout his career, Hillocks was a dedicated advocate for improving the teaching of writing in schools. His 1995 book Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice outlined both theoretical and practical elements of improving writing instruction at the secondary and early undergraduate level. That book won the National Council of Teachers of English’s David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English.

His last book, Teaching Argument Writing, was used in classrooms across the country and was one of his most popular books among fellow teachers, according to his daughter.

Hillocks also spoke out against the widespread use of standardized writing assessments; in The Testing Trap, he argued that standardized tests actually hindered students’ writing and critical thinking abilities.

His contributions to the field of education earned Hillocks the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English in 2004. He also received the NCTE’s Richard Meade Award for his 2008 book Narrative Writing: Learning a New Model for Teaching.

Hillocks was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934. He received his BA from the College of Wooster, and his MA and PhD in English from Case Western Reserve University. He taught English at the secondary level from 1956 to 1961.

The son of a Scottish immigrant, Hillocks was an accomplished bagpipe player who performed throughout the city and internationally. He was the Pipe Major for the Invermich Gaelic Society Pipe Band from 1984 to 1989. That band later became the University of Chicago Alumni Association Pipe Band, which performs at Convocation and other major University functions.

He is survived by his children, Marjorie Hillocks and George “Mac” McInnes Hillocks; and three grandchildren, Geoffrey, Cameron and Dylan Hillocks. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care Center.