University of Chicago News: Achievements in 1999

Some achievements of University of Chicago faculty and students in 1999

Faculty recognition

Mark Strand, the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor on the Committee on Social Thought, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Robert Mundell, a former Professor in Economics, received the 1999 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
NASA’s newest orbiting telescope, which is studying X-rays produced by some of the most violent events in the universe, carries the name of pioneering Chicago astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation named Ka Yee Lee, Assistant Professor in Chemistry, a 1999 Packard fellow, an honor that includes a five-year, $625,000 research grant. Lee also was named a 1999 Searle scholar.
South-African novelist J.M. Coetzee, a member of the Committee on Social Thought who teaches one term each year at the University, was awarded the 1999 Booker Prize, Britain’s top fiction award, for his novel Disgrace.
Five University faculty members⑬Bruce Cumings, the Norman & Edna Freehling Professor in History; Martha McClintock, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology; Thomas Pavel, Professor in Romance Languages & Literatures; Craig Thompson, Professor in Medicine; and Wen-Hsiung Li, Professor in Ecology & Evolution⑬were elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, while economist Lars Peter Hansen, the Homer J. Livingston Professor and Chairman of Economics, was selected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Six Chicago professors and one Visiting Lecturer received 1999 Guggenheim fellowships. They are Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor in History; Robert Hooper, Visiting Lecturer in Art; David Jablonski, Professor in Geophysical Sciences; Ketan Mulmuley, Professor in Computer Science; Robert Nelson, Professor in Art History; Bruce Winstein, the Samuel K. Allison Distinguished Service Professor in Physics; and Wu Hung, the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Art History.
John Carlstrom, Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, received a $1 million grant from the James McDonnell Foundation of St. Louis to continue his research into the origin and evolution of the universe.
R. Stephen Berry, the James Franck Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry, was elected as home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences.
Charles Rosen, Professor Emeritus in Music and the Committee on Social Thought, received the 1999 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin. Rosen, an internationally renowned pianist and musicologist, received the $50,000 prize for his work Romantic Poets, Critics, and Other Madmen.
Three University mathematics professors and one economics professor were recently selected as 1999 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship recipients for their exceptional promise to contribute to the advancement of knowledge. The recipients were Steven Levitt, Associate Professor in Economics; Benson Farb, Assistant Professor in Mathematics; and Matthias Schwarz and Shankar Venkataramani, Assistant Professors in Mathematics.

Faculty research

New research by Amanda Woodward, Assistant Professor in Psychology, shows that babies begin to develop social-reasoning skills as early as 5 months of age.
A primitive, long-necked dinosaur that weighed an estimated 20 tons and grew to a length of 70 feet is the newest species to be discovered in the African Sahara by a team led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, Professor in Organismal Biology & Anatomy.
In a comprehensive study of Chicago neighborhoods, Robert Sampson, the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology, shows for the first time how much a community’s ability to nurture its children is helped or hindered by surrounding neighborhoods. The study also shows that previous research on neighborhoods that focused on poverty and the “underclass” provided a limited understanding of how neighborhoods work.
Bruce Winstein, the Samuel K. Allison Distinguished Service Professor in Physics, was head of a 21-year effort that led to the discovery of direct charge-parity violation, an entirely new type of inequality between matter and antimatter. The antimatter discovery was announced at a Fermilab seminar last February.

Student achievements

Jesse Kharbanda, a 1998 University of Chicago graduate, received a Rhodes scholarship for study at Oxford University, where three other Chicago graduates who won 1998 Rhodes scholarships are now studying. Those students are Erin Bohula, Maureen Dunne and Mira Lutgendorf.
The University’s College Bowl team won the Chicago-area college tournament dubbed the “Battle of the Brains,” continuing its reign as the No. 1 team in the national players’ poll. The team’s victory won its members the title of “Smartest in the City.”
Chris Calderone, a fourth-year student, was awarded an academic scholarship from the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States to study at Cambridge University.
Catherine Potter, a third-year student, received a $30,000 scholarship from the Truman Foundation.
The University’s College Bowl team became the first team in quiz-bowl history to win all three national titles in the same year.
Third-year student Carolyn Cracraft won the national Jeopardy! College Tournament.


Some achievements of University of Chicago faculty and students in 1999 Faculty recognition Mark Strand, the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor on the Committee on Social Thought, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Robert Mundell, a former Professor in Economics, received the 1999 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. NASA’s newest orbiting telescope, which is studying X-rays produced by some of the most violent events in the universe, carries the name of pioneering Chicago astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation named Ka Yee Lee, Assistant Professor in Chemistry, a 1999 Packard fellow, an honor that includes a five-year, $625,000 research grant. Lee also was named a 1999 Searle scholar. South-African novelist J.M. Coetzee, a member of the Committee on Social Thought who teaches one term each year at the University, was awarded the 1999 Booker Prize, Britain’s top fiction award, for his novel Disgrace. Five University faculty members⑬Bruce Cumings, the Norman & Edna Freehling Professor in History; Martha McClintock, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology; Thomas Pavel, Professor in Romance Languages & Literatures; Craig Thompson, Professor in Medicine; and Wen-Hsiung Li, Professor in Ecology & Evolution⑬were elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, while economist Lars Peter Hansen, the Homer J. Livingston Professor and Chairman of Economics, was selected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Six Chicago professors and one Visiting Lecturer received 1999 Guggenheim fellowships. They are Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor in History; Robert Hooper, Visiting Lecturer in Art; David Jablonski, Professor in Geophysical Sciences; Ketan Mulmuley, Professor in Computer Science; Robert Nelson, Professor in Art History; Bruce Winstein, the Samuel K. Allison Distinguished Service Professor in Physics; and Wu Hung, the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Art History. John Carlstrom, Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, received a $1 million grant from the James McDonnell Foundation of St. Louis to continue his research into the origin and evolution of the universe. R. Stephen Berry, the James Franck Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry, was elected as home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences. Charles Rosen, Professor Emeritus in Music and the Committee on Social Thought, received the 1999 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin. Rosen, an internationally renowned pianist and musicologist, received the $50,000 prize for his work Romantic Poets, Critics, and Other Madmen. Three University mathematics professors and one economics professor were recently selected as 1999 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship recipients for their exceptional promise to contribute to the advancement of knowledge. The recipients were Steven Levitt, Associate Professor in Economics; Benson Farb, Assistant Professor in Mathematics; and Matthias Schwarz and Shankar Venkataramani, Assistant Professors in Mathematics. Faculty research New research by Amanda Woodward, Assistant Professor in Psychology, shows that babies begin to develop social-reasoning skills as early as 5 months of age. A primitive, long-necked dinosaur that weighed an estimated 20 tons and grew to a length of 70 feet is the newest species to be discovered in the African Sahara by a team led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno, Professor in Organismal Biology & Anatomy. In a comprehensive study of Chicago neighborhoods, Robert Sampson, the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology, shows for the first time how much a community’s ability to nurture its children is helped or hindered by surrounding neighborhoods. The study also shows that previous research on neighborhoods that focused on poverty and the “underclass” provided a limited understanding of how neighborhoods work. Bruce Winstein, the Samuel K. Allison Distinguished Service Professor in Physics, was head of a 21-year effort that led to the discovery of direct charge-parity violation, an entirely new type of inequality between matter and antimatter. The antimatter discovery was announced at a Fermilab seminar last February. Student achievements Jesse Kharbanda, a 1998 University of Chicago graduate, received a Rhodes scholarship for study at Oxford University, where three other Chicago graduates who won 1998 Rhodes scholarships are now studying. Those students are Erin Bohula, Maureen Dunne and Mira Lutgendorf. The University’s College Bowl team won the Chicago-area college tournament dubbed the “Battle of the Brains,” continuing its reign as the No. 1 team in the national players’ poll. The team’s victory won its members the title of “Smartest in the City.” Chris Calderone, a fourth-year student, was awarded an academic scholarship from the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States to study at Cambridge University. Catherine Potter, a third-year student, received a $30,000 scholarship from the Truman Foundation. The University’s College Bowl team became the first team in quiz-bowl history to win all three national titles in the same year. Third-year student Carolyn Cracraft won the national Jeopardy! College Tournament.

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