Boston College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

	Associate Professor Carlo Rotella (English), author of Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, reviews “Million Dollar Baby,” the new boxing movie directed by Clint Eastwood. The Boston Globe

	Weston Observatory Director John Ebel (Professor of Geology and Geophysics) comments about placing an advance warning system in the Indian Ocean, and the odds of a tsunami striking the East Coast. Boston Globe • MetroWest Daily News • Nashua Telegraph • Springfield Republican

	Professor Ramsay Liem (Psychology) is Project Director of the upcoming exhibit Still Present Pasts, Korean Americans and the “Forgotten War.” This multimedia exhibition, created by ten Korean American artists and historians, features video, installation and performance art in conversation with the first systematically recorded oral histories of Korean American war survivors and their families, many of whom are from the Greater Boston area. Exhibit details

	Professor Paul Mariani (English) dedicates his poem Hopkins in Ireland to the Jesuit Community at Boston College. America Magazine

	Associate Professor Grant Balkema (Biology), who died at his Higgins Hall office on Thanksgiving Eve, is remembered for his dedication to science and his students. Eulogy by Professor Anthony Annunziato • more

	Professor Zhifeng Ren (Physics) has been named Fellow of American Physical Society, an honor given to APS members who have made advances in knowledge through original research and publication, have been innovative in applying physics to science and technology, or have made significant contributions to the teaching of physics. The Physics Department now counts four APS Fellows on its faculty, with Ren joining Professor Michael Naughton, Distinguished Research Professor Gabor Kalman, and Rourke Professor Kevin Bedell. The Chemistry Department claims two, Professor John Fourkas and Professor Paul Davidovits, both elected in the Society’s Chemical Physics Division.

	Professor David Burgess (Biology) has been awarded Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal Science. Burgess was bestowed this prestigious honor in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field of cell biology and for studies on cytokinesis and how cells change form as controlled by the cytoskeleton, research which aids in the understanding of human diseases. more

			Professor John Fourkas (Chemistry) and Professor Michael Naughton (Physics), along with two researchers from BU, have succeeded in building micro-structures on a human hair—a scientific first. Connections • Discover Magazine • ScienCentralNews [video player required]

	Professor Juliet Schor (Sociology) appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss the viral marketing to tween girls—the use of slumber parties to market to kids, and also in-school marketing.

	The New York Times has credited Professor Paul Lewis (English) with “One of the Best Ideas of 2004” for his op ed pieces about “the blue states” becoming part of Canada. NY Times — Neo-Secessionism

	Professor Juliet Schor (Sociology) writes about consumer materialism and its affect on today’s youth. Boston College Magazine

	Assistant Professor Shana O. Kelley (Chemistry) has been named by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology magazine, Technology Review, to its list of the world’s 100 top young innovators. • BC Chronicle • more

	“The Art of the Job Talk,” written by Associate Professor Marilyn Johnson (History), is an insightful article about 'job talk' and the weight it holds during the on-campus interview process. Perspectives Online

	Zhihong Chen, doctoral candidate in the department of Economics, won the Gregory Chow Best Student Paper Award at the Chinese Economists Society 2004 U.S. Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference topic was on “Technology, Human Capital, and Economic Development,” and Zhihong's paper was titled “Measuring the Poverty Line in China: An Equivalence Scale Method.”

	Philosophy doctoral student Thomas Hidya Tjaya, lecturer at the Jakarta’s Driyarkara School of Philosophy, writes on the aftermath of Indonesia’s elections in the Jakarta Post.

	Associate Professor Alan Kafka’s (Geology and Geophysics) project titled, “The Boston College Educational Seismology Project: Inviting Students into the World of Science Research,” is a unique educational opportunity for high school and middle school students to track earthquakes happening around the world. Weston Town Crier • 9/28 California earthquake

	David Mehegan (Globe Staff Writer) gave an outstanding review to Associate Professor Elizabeth Graver's (English) third book, Awake, in The Boston Globe. The Chicago Tribune hailed Elizabeth Graver as “one of our finest writers on the grand drama of simply growing up.” powells.com • washingtonpost.com • wbur.org • BC Chronicle • bookreporter.com • here-now.org (audio review by Steven Almond [BC English faculty] / Here and Now book critic)

	Monan Professor Lisa Cahill (Theology) wrote in America magazine, “Protection of prenatal life is only one part of Catholic bioethics. Catholics also have a responsibility to stress the importance of a more just distribution of health care resources because they are essential to the common good, nationally and worldwide.”

Associate Professor Joseph Tecce (Psychology) studied the presidential candidate’s nonverbal communication–eye blinking–and determined that “Kerry kept his cool better than Bush” during the first debate. Boston Globe • London Times • NY Daily News • thestar online


	A research team consisting of Yang Wang (Ph.D. doctoral student in Physics), his advisor Professor Zhifeng Ren (Physics), Professor Krzysztof Kempa (Physics), Lab Director/Lecturer Andrzej Herczynski (Physics), Thomas Kempa ‘04 (Marshall Scholarship recipient), and colleagues at the Natick Army Laboratory have invented an antenna that captures visible light, similar to radio antennas capturing radio waves. Once properly developed, the device, made from tiny carbon nanotubes, might serve as the basis for an optical television or for converting solar energy into electricity. Nature • CNN • Reuters • Applied Physics • Physics Department

		Professor Juliet Schor (Sociology) is commended for her latest book Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. US News and World Report • Born to Buy • NPR • Detroit News • Atlantic Journal

	Professor Prasannan Parthasarathi (History) has been awarded a Senior Fellowship at MIT's Dibner Institute for the 2004/05 academic year. The Institute serves as an international center for advanced research in the history of science and technology. While at the Institute Parthasarathi will be working on his upcoming book Technology, the State, and Economic Development in Eurasia, 1700-1900, which will explore how the presumed diverging economic organization, social structure, and cultural values affected the growth of technology in Europe and Asia during these two centuries. Parthasarathi is also the author of The Transition to a Colonial Economy: Weavers, Merchants and Kings in South India, 1720-1800.

	Professor Marc Landy (Political Science) was a guest on WCVB-TV's “Chronicle” for a presidential debate preview.

	The struggle within the Democratic Party, says Alan Wolfe (Professor/Director, Center for Religion and American Public Life) is over religion and the role it should play in public life. Boston Globe

	Professor Paul Mariani (English) is featured as “Guest Writer” on the website Today in Literature, a calendar of stories about the great books, writers, and events in literary history.

	Abigail Brooks ´06 has received the 2004 Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper presented by the Youth, Aging and Life Course Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems for her paper “Under the Knife and Proud of It: An Analysis of the Normalization of Cosmetic Surgery.” Abigail's paper was also published as an article in the journal Critical Sociology.

	For the fifth consecutive year Paul Schervish (Professor of Sociology and Director of Center on Wealth and Philanthropy) has been named to the NonProfit Times “Power and Influence Top 50.” NPT stated, “There is nobody better at studying the forms, trends, and motives surrounding the meaning and practice of care and giving in this age of affluence. Remember, it's not about you. It's about the donor.”

	Professor Paul Lewis (English) writes in the Boston Globe that the ambivalence plaguing many Bush and Kerry supporters can be characterized as their Gollum mindset, in reference to the villainous character in J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

		Associate Professor Carlo Rotella (English), author of Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, discusses how boxing can prepare one for life's encounters. NECN (video player required) and Chronicle of Higher Education, where Gordon Marino described Cut Time as “One of the best boxing books ever written.”

	Assistant Professor Leslie Salzinger (Sociology) received Honorable Mention for the “2004 Bryce Wood Book Award” of the Latin American Studies Association for her book Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico's Global Factories.

	Assistant Professor Andrew Sofer (English) has received the Erika Mumford Prize for his poem on travel from The New England Poetry Club. In addition, his poetry manuscript The Whale Road has been named a semifinalist for the Kenyon Review First Book Prize.

	Professor Maxim D. Shrayer (Slavic & Eastern Languages and English) has been named 2004-2005 Fellow in the Humanities by the Bogliasco Foundation. Shrayer also received a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, a two-month grant to do scholarly research at the Liguria Study Center on the Ligurian coast, east of Genoa. While at the Center Shrayer plans to complete Anthology of Jewish-Russian Literature (volume 1 is already in production).

	Professor Solomon Friedberg (Mathematics) and three colleagues from Brown, Columbia, and Stanford Universities have been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation for a collaborative research project. The funding will support a joint effort to apply a concept called Multiple Dirichlet Series to analytic number theory, a central area of modern mathematics that is concerned with the properties of numbers, and is used in encryption and data-transmission algorithms. Friedberg stated, “It is a chance to develop a new line of research of great potential that could tell us new things about some long-standing problems in number theory.” more

	Professor Diane Scott-Jones (Psychology) has been appointed Associate Editor of Psychological Bulletin, a bimonthly journal of evaluative and integrative research reviews and interpretations of issues in scientific psychology.

		Director Paul Schervish (Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, formerly named Social Welfare Research Institute) announced that The Boston Foundation has awarded them a grant to support their research project, "Geography and Generosity: The Boston Area and Beyond." The project will examine the generosity levels in Boston, Massachusetts and New England, regions often perceived as less charitable than other regions of the country, according to reports published during the past decade. The statistical analyses, directed by John Havens (Senior Research Associate), will offer an unbiased scientific assessment of how the reported findings were derived and whether the findings are valid.


	William Gamson (Sociology faculty member) and co-authors' book, Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States, has been named Recipient of the ASA Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section Best Book Award.

	Assistant Professor Leslie Salzinger's (Sociology) book Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico's Global Factories was awarded Honorary Mention for the Sex and Gender Section's Best Book Award.

		Assistant Professor Sarah Babb's (Sociology) book Managing Mexico: Economists from Nationalism to Neoliberalism has been named CO-recipient of the 2004 Viviana Zelizer Prize for Best Book in Economic Sociology.

	Jeremy Bailey (Ph.D. ´03) (Assistant Professor of Government at Eastern Washington University) has won the American Political Science Association's 2004 E. E. Schattschneider Award, a prestigious award given for the best doctoral dissertation completed and accepted during that year or the previous year in the field of American government. His Dissertation Committee consisted of (Dissertation Chair) Professor Marc Landy (Political Science),Professor Robert Faulkner (Political Science), and Associate Professor Dennis Hale (Political Science). A chapter from Bailey's dissertation “Democratic Energy: Thomas Jefferson and the Development of Presidential Power” will be published in the upcoming issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly. Bailey is currently writing a book on Thomas Jefferson's transformation of the presidency.


	Kay Schlozman (Professor, J. Joseph Moakley Chair, Political Science) has been selected to receive the 2004 Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching of Political Science. This prestigious award is given to deserving political scientists in recognition of their creativity and imagination in developing effective new approaches to teaching in the discipline. Sandy Maisel, selection committee chairperson stated, "We were most impressed with your Rights in Conflict, most especially because of the way it solved two pressing departmental problems—teaching of writing and teaching of teaching. And we also think that your leadership of the course presents a model that others of our generation could well follow." Michael Smyer (Dean GSAS & Associate Vice President for Research) stated, “This a well-deserved honor for Kay and, through her, for the department. Her ability to link her passion for the discipline with teaching both undergrad and grad students sets the benchmark for BC.”

		Associate Professor Carlo Rotella (English), author of Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, talked about “the connections between boxing and college, scholarly life and real life,” during a July 11 interview with the Boston Globe.

	Vanderslice Professor T. Ross Kelly (Chemistry), the first scientist to be voted Teacher of the Year at Boston College by the students of Phi Beta Kappa, was interviewed in the July 2nd Watertown Tab.

	Professor Ellen Winner (Psychology) has been awarded a two-year grant from the International Foundation for Music Research (IFMR), which will allow her to carry out a longitudinal study of the effects of music training on children's brain development and on their spatial and mathematical reasoning. In addition, Professor Winner's article, "Art History Can Trade Insights With The Sciences" appeared in the July 2nd issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

	A one-day Symposium on Frontiers in Organic Chemistry was held in the Merkert Chemistry Center to honor Professor Lawrence T. Scott (Chemistry) on the occasion of his 60th birthday. more

	Charles Onyango-Oduke, S.J. (Philosophy) spoke at the annual Donald J. White Excellence in Teaching Awards Ceremony, held on May 6, in addition to being selected a 2004 Award recipient.

	Assistant Professor Linda Tropp (Psychology) has been elected to the Governing Council of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), an international group of over 3500 psychologists, allied scientists, students, and others who share a common interest in research on the psychological aspects of important social issues. more

	The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Professor Lawrence Scott (Chemistry) an additional 4 years of funding to support his research project, "Methods for the Chemical Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes."

Since Associate Professor Eric Strauss (Biology) and graduate student Jonathan Way have been conducting "The Urban Coyote Study," a research project of the Boston College Urban Ecology Institute, to gain an understanding of the hunting, mating, and general habits of coyotes. Revere High School students have been assisting in the research project. Boston Globe

Vanderslice Professor T. Ross Kelly (Chemistry) has been voted Teacher of the Year at Boston College by the students of Phi Beta Kappa. Kelly, the first scientist to be awarded this distinction, was described as an "engaging teacher whose motivational skills and real-world demonstrations made the most challenging of subjects captivating." Kelly will be honored at the Academic Honor Society's Induction Ceremonies on May 23. BC Chronicle

Professor Thomas Chiles (Biology) and colleagues at BU Medical Center have received a 4.65 million dollar project grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to research a type of white blood cells called B-1a cells, which, if overproduced, can lead to serious diseases, including leukemia. This distinguished grant will enable BC and BU to establish a large, long-term, collaborative project on an important medical problem. more / Medical News Today

Professor John Fourkas (Chemistry) and colleagues have discovered a way to build microscopic structures on tiny biological materials using a technique called multiphoton-absorption photopolymerization (MAP), a revelation that could eventually be used to build structures on skin, blood vessels, and even in individual cells. BetterHumans / United Press International / Innovations Report / Science Daily / Biocompare

	Associate Professor Carlo Rotella (English) was awarded a Fellowship from the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation, one of 12 recipients from among 314 scholars and independent writers nominated by administrative officers of colleges, universities, and cultural institutions throughout the country. The Fellowship represents the field of Creative Writing including Fiction, Poetry, Short Stories, Essays, and Creative Non-Fiction. Rotella was selected for his creative non-fiction, Playing in Time: A Suite of Musical Lives.

	Kameliia Petrova's (Ph.D. candidate) paper, Does Motivation Trigger Autonomy, or Vice Versa? received second prize out of a field of 80 papers at the annual Southwestern Economic Association in Corpus Christi, Texas. Petrova will present her paper at the annual meetings of the Austrian Economic Association in Vienna in May. more

			On April 20, The Graduate Student Association of Boston College presented their annual Outstanding Graduate Student Awards to Francesco Zanetti (Economics), Bianca Sculimbrene (Chemistry), and Jason Taylor (Philosophy).

Glen Feder, an advanced BC Doctoral candidate in Political Science and L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France, published, Fight or flight? Will France stand up to terrorism this time? on NRO nationalreviewonline.

		During an interview with The Capital Times, Professor Juliet Schor (Sociology) shared her concern that “television encourages people to work harder so they'll have the money to buy what they're expected to have to look successful.” In her upcoming book, Born to Buy: Marketing and the Transformation of Childhood and Culture (due for Fall publication), Schor describes how, “This New Consumerism Era has had a devastating impact on our lifestyles and priorities.” Schor has also written two other best sellers, The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure and The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer.


		Assistant Professor Timothy Crawford's (Political Science) book, Pivotal Deterrence: Third-Party Statecraft and the Pursuit of Peace, has won the 2003 Edgar S. Furniss Book Award. This illustrious award is given annually to an author whose first book makes an exceptional contribution to the study of national and international security.

	Alicia Jaramillo, a Doctoral student in Philosophy, has been awarded a 2004/05 Fulbright Fellowship, to study at Louvain University in Belgium next year.

John Manoussakis, a Philosophy Doctoral student, has been awarded a 2004/05 Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship. Manoussakis, the first Boston College student ever to receive this prestigious award, will continue his studies at BC next year.

	Dalia Nassar, Philosophy Doctoral student, received a 2004/05 Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Research Grant to work on her Dissertation in Tuebingen, Germany next year.

Joseph Westfall, a Philosophy Doctoral student, has received a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation to conduct research at the Kierkegaard Research Center in Copenhagen this summer.

	Rebecca Simmons ´04 (Boston College Presidential Scholars Program) has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Paris next year. While at BC, she has been working in Professor Amir Hoveyda's (Chemistry) laboratory. Michael Smyer (Dean and Associate VP for Research) stated, “Congratulations to Rebecca on her admission to such a stellar array of graduate programs. Integrating research and student development is a hallmark of success at BC and clearly Rebecca and Amir have been very successful.” more

	Sociology Professor Diane Vaughan's analysis of the NASA space shuttle tragedies should reinforce to all social scientists that case studies can be invaluable. Vaughan, author of The Challenger Launch Decision, was an expert witness in the investigation of the Columbia disaster. BC Chronicle / Chronicle of Higher Education

	Professor James Markusen (University of Colorado at Boulder), one of the Economics Ph.D. program's most notable alumni, was presented with a Distinguished Alumnus Award. Markusen (Boston College B.A. ´70 and Ph.D. ´73, advised by Professor James Anderson) is a specialist in international trade theory, an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics, and publisher of numerous articles in the profession's most respected journals. more

	The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities (MFH) has awarded a grant to BC for implementation of the “Still Present Pasts” exhibit, planned for 2005. Professor Ramsay Liem (Psychology) is Project Director and will research and edit all oral histories to be included in the “multi-media exhibit that explores the legacies of the Korean War and encourages reflection about the devastation of all wars.” Boston College Magazine, Crossing Over

	Assistant Professor Kevin Ohi (English) has accepted a Fellowship for next year at the National Humanities Center in North Carolina. This highly competitive year-long program offers up to 40 talented scholars, selected from around the world, the opportunity to work in a stimulating environment for the best new work in the humanities.

	Thomas Kempa ´04 has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) award in Physical Chemistry, which provides a maximum tenure of 3 years, to be used over a 5 year period. Kempa is the son of Professor Krzysztof Kempa (Physics) and will be attending Cambridge University in the United Kingdom next year on a Marshall Scholarship. Additional NSF Awardees

	Maxim D. Shrayer (Professor, Slavic & Eastern Languages and English) has been awarded a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, a two-month grant to do advanced creative work or scholarly research at the Liguria Study Center on the Ligurian coast, east of Genoa. The Program bestows about fifty grants yearly, based on demonstrated significant achievement in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

		Professor of Sociology Paul Schervish (Director, Social Welfare Research Institute) and John Havens' (Associate Director, Social Welfare Research Institute) report, “Millionaires and the Millennium…” was examined by the Philadelphia Inquirer to explore the effect inter-generational conveyance of wealth will have on future generations.

	Joseph Quinn (Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, and Economics Professor) was a guest speaker on Talk of the Nation (3/4) for a discussion on “Retirees Returning to Work.”

	Jerome Yavarkovsky (University Librarian) has been selected winner of the 2004 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award from the American Library Association (ALA). The award, considered the most prestigious award for an academic library director, recognizes outstanding achievements by an academic librarian who has contributed significantly to improvements in the areas of library automation, library management, and/or library development and research. more

		Gilda Morelli (Acting Associate Dean in A&S and Associate Professor, Psychology) and David Wilkie (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Psychology) have received a five year grant from the MacArthur Foundation. This distinguished grant will be used to research the effects of establishing national parks in Gabon on the lives of people living in or near the parks, as well as focus on family functioning before and after the parks are established.

		Thomas Groome (Theology Professor, and Director, Institute for Religious Ed & Pastoral Ministry) discussed his latest book, “What Makes Us Catholic” in a recent interview with National Catholic Reporter. Also, Groome was a guest speaker on Talk of the Nation (3/2) to discuss the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

	Professor Lawrence Scott (Chemistry) has been appointed a member on the Editorial Board of the International Scientific Journal “Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds.” Professor, Chairperson David McFadden (Chemistry) stated, “Congratulations to Larry on receiving this highly visible mark of recognition of his professional stature and of BC's role in the advancement of chemistry, internationally.”

		Assistant Professor Sarah Babb (Sociology) has been selected co-recipient of the Myrra Komarovsky Book Award for her outstanding book, “Managing Mexico: Economists from Nationalism to Neoliberalism.” Professor, Chairperson Stephen Pfohl (Sociology) stated, “We are delighted to have Assistant Professor Babb on our faculty and very pleased that her terrific book was named as co-recipient for this year's Myrra Komarovsky Book Award.”

	History Associate Professor Marilynn Johnson’s latest book, Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City, has received exceptional reviews. The New York Times wrote, “The book takes on the formidable and sensitive subject of police brutality and largely conquers it, thanks to indefatigable research and a rigorous, unblinking analysis.” Boston Globe review

		The Journal of Economic Education has announced the “Top 800 Academic Economists,” a prestigious recognition given to Economists based on their publications during 1990-2000. Two BC Economics Professors have placed in the top 100—Arthur Lewbel #30 (left)and Uzi Segal #98 (right), in addition to four placing in the top 500—Peter Ireland, Richard Arnott, Peter Gottschalk, and James Anderson. Economics Professor/Chairperson Marvin Kraus stated, “BC's Economics Department is one of only ten in the world to have at least two of its faculty rank in the top 100.”

	Professor Peter Ireland (Economics) has been appointed Co-Editor of the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, an outlet for publication of research concerning all theoretical and empirical aspects of economic dynamics and control, as well as the development and use of computational methods in economics and finance.

	NASA has designated January 29, a day to remember the victims of the space shuttle tragedies: Columbia, Challenger, and Apollo I. And as the first anniversary of the Columbia disaster approaches, Professor Diane Vaughan (Sociology), author of “The Challenger Launch Decision,” and an expert witness in the investigation of the Columbia disaster, tells the Associated Press that it's an encouraging sign to see NASA seeking outside help to achieve cultural change.

	Jarred Blank has been selected for a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for study at the Max-Planck-Institute in Muelheim, Germany. He was also the recipient of a Boston College Presidential Graduate Student Fellowship in 1998-1999, his first year at BC. While completing his BC studies Blank has performed outstanding work in Professor Scott Miller's lab, in addition to being a valuable resource to other research groups through his service as an x-ray crystallography technician.

	Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett (Psychology) has been elected a Fellow of the American Psychological Society, a status awarded to APS Members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, and/or application. In addition to Barrett, other BC faculty previously selected for this honor include Michael A. Smyer and James Russell.