Faculty Distinctions

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded annually for outstanding achievement in each of five fields: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was created in 1968. A recipient of these prizes is called a Nobel Laureate.

1907   Albert A. Michelson (Physics, 1889–1892)

Funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the MacArthur Fellows Program provides unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. They may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $625,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years.

1981   Robert W. Kates (Geography, 1962–1996)

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an honorary society that recognizes achievement in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. One of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, the Academy convenes leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to address critical challenges facing our global society. The academy serves the nation as a champion of scholarship, civil dialogue, and useful knowledge. Members are nominated and elected by Academy Fellows.

2014   Anthony Bebbington (Geography, 2010–present)
2004   Roger Kasperson (Geography and Government, 1969–2002)
2000   Susan Hanson (Geography, 1981–2008)
1998   Billie Lee Turner II (Geography, 1980–2008)
1976   Robert W. Kates (Geography, 1962–1996)
1962   Gerson Kegeles (Chemistry, 1951–1968)
1956   Heinz Werner (Psychology, 1947–1964)
1939   Gregory Pincus (Biology, 1938–1944)
1934   Hudson Hoagland (Biology, 1931–1943)
1933   George Hubbard Blakeslee (History and International Relations, 1904–1943)
1933   Walter Samuel Hunter (Psychology, 1925–1936)
1916   John Wallace Baird (Psychology, 1910–1919)
1915   Charles August Kraus (Chemistry, 1914–1924)
1914   John Charles Hubbard (Physics, 1906–1916)
1914   James Edmund Ives (Physics, 1897–1921)
1914   Ralph Stayner Lillie (Biology, 1913–1920)
1914   Martin Andre Rosanoff  (Chemistry, 1907–1914)
1895   Arthur Gordon Webster (Physics, 1890–1907)
1894   G. Stanley Hall (Psychology, 1888–1924)
1891   Henry Taber (Mathematics, 1889–1936)
1890   Charles Otis Whitman (Biology, 1889–1892)
1876   William Edward Story (Mathematics, 1889–1930)

Founded in 1848, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of all people. Election as a Fellow of AAAS is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. Fellows are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its application.

From 1958 to the present:

2018   David Hibbett (Biology, 1999–present)
2010   Davis Baird (History and Philosophy of Science, 2010–present)
2002   Billie Lee Turner II (Geology and Geography, 1980–2008)
1991   Susan Hanson (Geology and Geography, 1981–2008)
1988   Rudolph Nunnemacher (Biology, 1939–1983)
1987   Roger Kasperson (Geography and Government, 1969–2002)
1987   Robert E. Kates (Geology and Geography, 1962–1996)

Established by an Act of Congress in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit society of distinguished scholars charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. The NAS is committed to furthering science in America, and its members are active contributors to the international scientific community.

2009     Anthony Bebbington (Geography, 2010–present)
2003     Roger Kasperson (Geography and Government, 1969–2002)
2000     Susan Hanson (Geography, 1981–2008)
1995     Billie Lee Turner II (Geography, 1980–2008)
1978     Ralph I. Dorfman (Chemistry, 1955–1964)
1975     Robert W. Kates (Geography, 1962–1996)
1965     Gregory Pincus (Biology, 1938–1944)
1946     Clarence Henry Graham (Psychology, 1932–1936)
1935     Walter Samuel Hunter (Psychology, 1925–1936)
1925     Charles August Kraus (Chemistry, 1914–1924)
1915     G. Stanley Hall (Psychology, 1888–1924)
1908     William Edward Story (Mathematics, 1889–1930)
1903     Arthur Gordon Webster (Physics, 1890–1907)
1895     Charles Otis Whitman (Biology, 1889–1892)
1888     Albert A. Michelson (Physics, 1889–1893)

Approximately 200 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships are awarded each year to men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Fellowships are awarded through two annual competitions: one open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada, the other to citizens and permanent residents of Latin America and the Caribbean. Candidates must apply to be considered in either of these competitions.

2017   John Aylward (Music, 2008–present)
2014   Anthony Bebbington (Geography, 2010–present)
2010   Gauvin Bailey (Art History, 1997–2006)
2010   Stephen DiRado (Studio Art, 1985–present)
2010   Thomas Kühne (History, 2004–present)
2008   Jeffrey Schiff (Studio Art, 1981)
1989   Susan Hanson (Geography, 1981–2008)
1989   George A. Billias (History, 1962–1990)
1981   Billie Lee Turner II (Geology and Geography, 1980–2008)
1957   Marc Raeff (Russian History and Language, 1949–1960)
1953   Arthur E. Martell (Chemistry, 1942–1961)
1944   Hudson Hoagland (Biology, 1931–1943)
1943   Ray A. Billington (History, 1931–1937)
1942   Harold S. Jantz (German, 1934–1942)
1940   James A. Maxwell (Economics, 1924–1975)
1939   Charles Olson (English, 1934–1936)
1936   Leland Hamilton Jenks (History, 1919–1920)
1930   John P. Nafe (Psychology, 1924–1931)
1930   Gregory Pincus (Biology, 1938–1944)
1930   Carroll C. Pratt (Psychology, 1915–1922)
1927   Leonard D. White (Government/Sociology, 1915–1918)

The U.S. Core Fulbright Scholar Program provides approximately 800 grants to U.S. faculty and experienced professionals, from a wide variety of academic and professional fields, for conducting teaching and/or research abroad. Grants are available in more than 125 countries worldwide. Named for Senator J. William Fulbright, the program is sponsored by the U. S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and managed by the Institute of International Education.

2014   Michael Butler (Political Science, 2006–present)
2014   Mark Miller (Political Science, 1990–present)
2009   Ellen Foley (International Development, Community, and Environment, 2006–present)
2005   Jeffrey Jensen Arnett (Psychology, 2009–present)
2000   SunHee Gertz (English, 1985–present)

Taner Akçam, Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies
James Aylward, George N. and Selma U. Jeppson Professor of Music
Anthony Bebbington, Higgins Professor of Environment and Society
Philip Bergmann and Neva Meyer, Mary Despina Lekas Endowed Chair in Biology
Rob Drewell, Warren Litsky Endowed Chair in Biology
Everett Fox, Allen M. Glick Chair in Judaic and Biblical Studies
Annie Goldberg, Jan and Larry Landry University Professor
Wayne Gray, John T. Croteau Chair in Economics
Scott Hendricks, George F. Kneller Endowed Chair in Philosophy
Betsy Huang, Andrea B. and Peter D. Klein Distinguished Professorship
Sharon Huo, Carl J. and Anna Carlson Endowed Chair and Professor, Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Elizabeth Imber, Michael and Lisa Leffell Chair in Modern Jewish History
Esther Jones, E. Franklin Frazier Chair in African American Literature, Theory, and Culture
Wim Klooster, Robert H. and Virginia N. Scotland Chair in History and International Relations
Thomas Kühne, Strassler Family Chair in the Study of Holocaust History
James McCarthy, Leo L. ’36 and Joan Kraft Laskoff Professor of Economics, Technology and Environment
Drew McCoy, Jacob and Frances Hiatt Professor of History
Robert Tobin, Henry J. Leir Chair in Foreign Languages and Cultures
Frances Tanzer, Rose Professor of Holocaust Studies and Modern Jewish History and Culture

• John Baker (Biology), Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
• Youjin Chung (Geography) and Gohar Siddiqui (Visual and Performing Arts), Hodgkins Junior Faculty Awards
• Elli Crocker (Visual and Performing Arts) and Robert Tobin (Language, Literature and Culture), Steinbrecher Family Senior Faculty Award
• Lyndon Estes (Geography), Outstanding Graduate Mentor/Adviser
• Dominik Kulakowski (Geography), Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award
• Jie Park (Education), Rosiland S. Roberts Faculty Award
• Florencia Sangermano (Geography), Oliver and Dorothy Hayden Junior Faculty Fellowship Award

Taner Akçam (History, Holocaust and Genocide Studies) was honored with the 2018 Outstanding Upstander Award from the World Without Genocide organization at the organization’s annual gala in Minneapolis in May for the decades he has spent gathering historical evidence to document the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Nancy Budwig (Psychology) serves as a Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

Edward Carr and Elisabeth Gilmore (International Development, Community, and Environment) were selected in spring 2018 to serve as lead authors for the next major report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to be released in 2021.

Ronald Eastman (Geography, Clark Labs) received the 2018 Outstanding Contributions in Remote Sensing Award from the Remote Sensing Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.

Jacqueline Geoghegan (Economics) was appointed as a lifetime Fellow of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.

Thomas Kühne (History, Holocaust and Genocide Studies) was invited by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to serve on the steering committee to establish a new national network of higher education leaders in the fields of Holocaust, genocide and human rights.

Sarah Michaels (Education) was selected to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Educational Research Association at its 2018 annual meeting. This award is presented to a researcher in recognition of Distinguished Contributions to Social Contexts in Education Research.

James Murphy (Geography) serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Economic Geography.

Nicole Overstreet (Psychology) was named a 2018 Nancy Weiss Malkiel Scholar from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, in recognition of her impressive scholarship, service, and teaching early in her tenure process and in support of her further progress toward tenure.

Richard Peet (Geography) received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Geographers at their annual meeting in April 2018. The AAG honored Peet for his extraordinary career as a scholar, teacher, mentor, editor and activist.

Florencia Sangermano (Geography) was nominated to join the Science Advisory Council of the Latin American and Caribbean Program of NatureServe.

Nancy Budwig (Psychology) serves as a Senior Fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

Michael Butler (Political Science) was awarded one of two Edward Hodgkins Junior Faculty Fellowships for 2017-18 for personifying the Clark ideal of excellence in research and in teaching.

Edward Carr (International Development, Community, and Environment) was elected by the Council of the City of Worcester in June 2017 to serve a one-year term on the Worcester Public Library Board of Directors.

Cynthia Enloe (International Development, Community, and Environment, Emerita) was selected for inclusion on the Gender Justice Legacy Wall, which was launched at the United Nations in December 2017. The Legacy Wall was created by the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice in celebration of the 20^th anniversary of the International Criminal Court.

Abbie Goldberg (Psychology) was appointed Research Scholar in the National Center on Adoption and Permanency in 2017.

Sergio Granados-Focil (Chemistry) was named a 2017 American Chemical Society Fellow for his outstanding accomplishments in chemistry and important contributions to the ACS.

Thomas Kühne (History, Holocaust and Genocide Studies) was invited by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to serve on the steering committee to establish a new national network of higher education leaders in the fields of Holocaust, genocide and human rights.

James Murphy (Geography) serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Economic Geography.

Robert J.S. Ross (Sociology, Emeritus) was named President of the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in 2017. The Consortium’s mission is “to end public purchasing from sweatshops and help its members to make sweatfree purchases more effectively and less expensively than any single one could accomplish on its own.”

Florencia Sangermano (Geography) was nominated to join the Science Advisory Council of the Latin American and Caribbean Program of NatureServe.

Christopher Williams (Geography) joined the North American Carbon Program’s Science Leadership Group, and will serve as co-chair for the development of a high-level science implementation plan for the NACP.

Kristina Wilson (Visual and Performing Arts) received a 2017 Award for Excellence from the Association of Art Museum Curators during their annual conference in May 2017. This award is in recognition of her groundbreaking scholarship as co-curator (with Nancy Burns of the Worcester Art Museum) of “Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue Period,” an exhibition mounted at the Worcester Art Museum in 2016.