On Campus

Faculty News
For the second year in a row, an SAS scientist has received the National Medal of Science. Research professor of physics Raymond Davis, Jr., succeeds Makineni Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry Ralph Hirschmann in receiving the nation’s highest award for achievement in scientific research. Davis’ pioneering work on neutrinos, among the most elusive particles in the universe, launched the field of neutrino physics.

Faculty Research
A study led by psychology professor Robert DeRubeis and Vanderbilt University’s Steven Hollon suggests that cognitive therapy is at least as effective as medication in the long-term treatment of severe depression.

A recent study by economics professors Nicola Persico and Andrew Postlewaite, and graduate student Dan Silverman indicates that a boy’s height at age 16 is a significant determinant of his future salary. The study of more than 2,000 men in the U.S. workforce found that taller teens later earned as much as 15 percent more than shorter teens, regardless of their heights as adults.

Faculty Appointments

Sociology professor Herbert Smith was appointed associate dean for the social sciences. A member of the faculty since 1987, he is a sociologist and demographer with special interest in fertility, social stratification, and research methods. A member of the Sociological Research Association, he recently received the Clogg Award for Early Career Achievement from the Population Association of America.

The following faculty members have been appointed to endowed professorships:

Thomas Childers, the Sheldon and Lucy Hackney Professor of History;

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, the Janice and Julian Bers Professor in the History and Sociology of Science;

Michael Eric Dyson, the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and African-American Studies;

Ania Loomba, the Catherine Bryson Professor;

Michael Meister, the W. Norman Brown Professor of South Asian Studies;

Economics professor Andrew Postlewaite, the Harry P. Kamen Professor;

Asian and Middle Eastern studies professor David Stern, the Ruth Meltzer Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature;

Economics professor Kenneth Wolpin, the Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences.

Board of Overseers Appointments
Three alumni have been appointed to the SAS Board of Overseers:

Steven F. Goldstone, Esq., C’67, retired chairman, Nabisco Group Holdings;

William D. Novelli, C’63, ASC’64, executive director, AARP;

Steven Sokolow, C’77, head of litigation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, and the newly elected president of the College Alumni Society.