Fall 2002

In a conversation with soundings contributing editor Orna Feldman, Professor Joshua Cohen discusses freedom of expression, campaign finance reform, and the trouble with political philosophy today.

Stepping up!

Recipients of the Spring 2002 SHASS Infinite Mile Awards were announced in May.

Science Writing Program opens its doors

MIT's new graduate program in science writing hopes to influence both the discipline of science writing and the public understanding of science and technology.

Planting seeds

The Burchard Scholars Program makes room in the MIT universe for questions without answers.

Soundings is published by the Dean's Office of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at MIT

Comments and questions to shass-www@mit.edu

Honors & awards

Professor of Political Science Stephen D. Ansolabehere, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Economics James M. Snyder, Jr., and Associate Dean, Professor of Political Science, and Margaret MacVicar Faculty fellow Charles Stewart III, were recipients of the Jewell-Loehenberg Award for the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association.

Olivier Blanchard, Class of 1941 Professor of Economics, was elected to the Econometric Society Council.

Institute Professor of Linguistics Noam Chomsky was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Calcutta, Universidad Nacional (Bogota, Colombia), and Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Argentina). Professor Chomsky was also awarded the Rabindranath Tagore Centenary Award from the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.

Joshua Cohen, Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, and Philip S. Khoury, Kenan Sahin Dean and Professor of History, were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Anita Desai, John E. Burchard Professor of Writing, and John W. Dower, Elting E. Morison Professor of History, were both awarded honorary doctorates from Amherst College.

Ford International Professor of Economics Rudiger Dornbusch received MIT's Perkins Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising. Professor Dornbusch passed away in July 2002 after a long illness.

Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics Esther C. Duflo received an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship.

Assistant Professor of Economics Xavier Gabaix received a Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship.

Associate Professor of Literature Diana Henderson was awarded the 2002 Levitan Prize in the Humanities. Professor Henderson was also named a Cambridge-MIT Initiative (CMI) Fellow for the 2002–03 Academic Year.

Paul L. Joskow, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics and Management, was awarded the Undergraduate Economics Association teaching award from MIT.

Alvin J. Siteman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Political Science Richard Locke has been appointed Bosch Public Policy Fellow.

Sendhil Mullainathan, Mark Hyman, Jr. Career Development Associate Professor of Economics, received an Olin Faculty Fellowship.

Barry R. Posen, Professor of Political Science, was awarded a grant from The German Marshall Fund 2002 Research Fellowship Program.

Margery Resnick, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Margaret MacVicar Fellow, and Rosalind Williams, Robert M. Metcalfe Professor of Writing, have been elected as Honorary Members of the Association of Alumni and Alumnae of MIT.

Ford International Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for International Studies Richard Samuels was named Outstanding Freshman Advisor of the Year.

Judith Thomson, Professor of Philosophy, has been invited to give the American Philosophical Association's Carus Lectures for the 2002-2003 academic year. Professor Thomson was also elected to serve a three-year term as Chair of the Association's national Board of Officers.

Professor of Literature David Thorburn was appointed a Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow.

New faculty chairs

Department of Economics
Assistant Professor David Autor, The Pentti J. K. Kouri Career Development Professor.

Foreign Languages and Literatures Faculty
Associate Professor Emma Teng, The Class of 1956 Career Development Professor.

Department of Political Science
Associate Professor Chappell Lawson, The Class of 1954 Career Development Professor.

Faculty promotions to tenure
(effective July 1, 2002)

Alexander Byrne
Associate Professor of Philosophy

Esther Duflo
Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics

David Mindell
Francis and David Dibner Associate Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing (STS)

Melissa Nobles
Associate Professor of Political Science

Shankar Raman
Associate Professor of Literature

Jeffrey Ravel
Associate Professor of History

Jaume Ventura
Pentti Kouri Career Development Associate Professor of Economics

New appointments

Wyn Kelley
Senior Lecturer of Literature

Fall 2002