Faculty News
Honors Convocation
USC Provost Emeritus Lloyd Armstrong Jr.
received the university’s highest honor, the Presidential Medallion, at
the 2006 Academic Honors Convocation. A University Professor trained in
physics, Armstrong was chief academic officer from 1993 to 2005, and
has been lauded for his work in moving USC into the top ranks of elite
research universities. The event also honored chemist Charles McKenna and sociologist Michael Messner with Excellence in Teaching awards, and neuroscientist Theodore Berger with a Creativity in Research Award. Michael G. Fry,
professor emeritus of international relations, received a Faculty
Lifetime Achievement Award. Phi Kappa Phi Faculty awards for books went
to geographer and American studies scholar Laura Pulido, political scientist Alison Dundes Renteln and gender studies and Cinema-TV critical studies scholar Tara McPherson.
Zumberge Funds to College Faculty
USC College faculty took eight of the 16 grants awarded by the James H.
Zumberge Research and Innovation Funds, the largest internal pool of
research funding at USC. Awards went to:
Bettine Birge of East Asian languages and cultures for “Marriage and the Law in Mongol-Yüan China.”
Samantha Butler of biological sciences for “Mechanisms of Axon Guidance in the Developing Spinal Cord.”
Sarah Gualtieri of history for “Race and Identity Among Arab Immigrants in the United States.”
Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond of Spanish and Portuguese for “White Negritude: Race, Writing and Brazilian Cultural Identity.”
Jane Iwamura of religion and American studies and ethnicity for “Altared States: A Cultural History of the Japanese American Home Shrine.”
Elsi Kaiser of linguistics for “Investigating the Effects of Discourse Factors on Real-Time Pronoun Interpretation.”
Antonia Szabari of French and Italian and of comparative literature for “Less Rightly Said: Scandalous Words in the French Reformation.”
In addition, chemist Amy Barrios won a Zumberge interdisciplinary award with Nunzio Bottini of orthopedics for “Imaging Protein Tyrosine Phosphorylation In Vivo.”
Honors for Computational Chemist
Arieh Warshel has won the
International Society of Quantum Biology and Pharmacology’s President’s
Award for 2006. The award is presented every two years to an individual
who has made a significant contribution to the field of computational
chemistry. Warshel received the award and delivered a plenary lecture
at the society’s meeting in Strasbourg, France.
Dominican Distinction
The Dominican Republic honored international relations scholar Abraham Lowenthal
in February, when they presented him with the Order of Merit of Duarte,
Sanchez and Mella at the Washington, D.C., embassy. The Order is the
highest civilian decoration awarded by the Dominican president.
Lowenthal is the Robert F. Erburu Chair in Ethics, Globalization and
Development.
A Year in Greece
Art historian John Pollini will
spend this academic year in Greece as the Whitehead Professor of
Archaeology at the Athens-based American School of Classical Studies.
The distinguished professorship in Greek classical art and archaeology
is a one-year appointment at the institution, a consortium of top U.S.
universities, including USC.
California Heritage Award
Historian Kevin Starr received
the California Heritage award from the L.A. Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects at the AIA national convention in June. The
University Professor was among a roster of architects, developers,
politicians, journalists and educators selected to receive the AIA’s
Presidential Honors for their vision and dedication to bettering the
built environment of Los Angeles.
Leading Canadianists
Patrick James, professor of
international relations, will serve as the next president of the
Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, beginning in
2007. He is now vice president.
Distinguished Geographer
At its annual meeting in Denver last year, the Association of American Geographers recognized Jennifer Wolch,
professor of geography and dean of graduate programs, with its
Distinguished Scholarship Honors for her intellectual leadership,
trans-disciplinary approaches and contributions to research and policy
on homelessness, urban planning, non-profits and animal geographies.
Honorary Doctorate for Historian
In May, Douglas Greenberg,
executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual
History and Education, received an honorary doctorate from Skidmore
College. Greenberg, professor of history in the College, was in good
company: Skidmore also honored Arthur Mitchell, founder of the Dance
Theater of Harlem, and Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey and
co-chair of the 9/11 commission, with honorary degrees this year.
A Voice for Marine Labs
As president of the National Association of Marine Laboratories, Anthony Michaels,
professor of biological sciences and director of the USC Wrigley
Institute for Environmental Studies, submitted testimony to Congress
about federal science funding in spring.
Top in Literary Theory
Peggy Kamuf, the Marion Frances
Chevalier Professor of French and professor of comparative literature,
received the 2006 René Wellek Prize for the Book of Addresses
(Stanford University Press, 2005) from the American Comparative
Literature Association. The biennial prize honors the most outstanding
book in literary and cultural theory.
Classics’ Best of the Best
Thomas Habinek, professor and chair of classics, received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Association of American Publishers for The World of Roman Song: From Ritualized Speech to Social Order
(Johns Hopkins Press, 2005). The book was named “best of the best for
2005” in the field of classics and ancient history, according to AAP.
New Associate Dean
In February, Jennifer Wolch, dean of graduate programs, announced the appointment of Abigail Rhodes Kaun
as the new associate dean of graduate programs. Kaun has a Ph.D. in
linguistics from UCLA and joins the College from the USC Annenberg
School for Communication.
Sociology Stand-out
Sociologist Paul Lichterman won the Outstanding Book Award for Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying To Bridge America’s Divisions (Princeton University Press, 2005) at the 2006 Pacific Sociological Association meeting.
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