School Notes: Faculty of Arts & Sciences
January/February 2024

FAS faculty honored

In recent months, faculty across the FAS have received a number of high-profile honors. Andrew Barron (statistics and data science) won the 2024 Claude E. Shannon Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society for contributions to information theory. Ned Blackhawk (history and American studies) won the National Book Award in nonfiction for The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History. Cécile Fromont (history of art) and Didac Queralt (political science) were awarded the 2023 international book prizes by Yale’s MacMillan Center. Pincelli Hull (earth and planetary sciences) was named a 2023 Schmidt Science Polymath fellow for her remarkable track record and promising future in interdisciplinary research. In chemistry, Seth Herzon was awarded the inaugural A. V. Rama Rao Award from the Council of the Chemical Research Society of India, William Jorgensen received the 2024 Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society, and Scott Miller received the 2022 Ira Remsen Award from the American Chemical Society. Phillip Atiba Solomon (African American studies) received the 2023 Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Psychology for his uniquely creative and influential work. 

Illuminating politics and policy

FAS social scientists are illuminating how party politics influence voters and how data influences policy. From the political science department, Kevin DeLuca created a database of precinct-level election results for the development of better redistricting practices. Jacob Hacker ’00PhD created the American Political Economy Exchange to show how the country’s political and economic systems interact and how political parties have evolved. Gregory Huber investigates how partisans determine their party loyalty. Shiro Kuriwaki is the first to study racial voting patterns in every US congressional district, while Ian Turner is researching voter behavior and democratic accountability. From the economics department, John Eric Humphries and Christopher Neilson ’14PhD are spearheading collaborations with the state of Connecticut to influence policy decisions regarding childcare and workforce participation.