Research Achievement Awards: 2017

The inaugural Brown Research Achievement Awards were given to six faculty members on April 19, 2017, at a Celebration of Research at Brown.

“The pursuit of knowledge through research has led to many exceptional accomplishments at Brown. Research enhances all aspects of the University, including undergraduate and graduate education, and enriches society in many ways,” said David A. Savitz, Brown’s Vice President for Research, who presented the awards in a program at the Faculty Club. 

The new awards program, intended to be an annual event, was launched with the strong support of the President and Provost in order to elevate the University’s recognition of the extraordinary research contributions of faculty.

“Here at Brown, we are committed to recruiting and rewarding exceptional scholars, providing them with the tools and the environment to engage in critical research across the disciplines,” said Provost Richard M. Locke, who spoke at the awards program, “Today, our faculty and students collaborate to identify innovative solutions to many of our most pressing societal issues, ranging from population health, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, cures for chronic diseases, and more.”

Nominations for the awards were sought in several categories and then reviewed by a panel of distinguished Brown faculty. “We faced the challenge of selecting a small number of awardees from a truly outstanding group of highly accomplished researchers. The awardees are exceptional among an exceptional peer group,” Savitz said. Besides the awards, each winner received a $5,000 research stipend. 

The six winners of the 2017 Research Achievements Awards are:

Maurice Herlihy (Computer Science), Research Innovation Award. Award reviewers praised Herlihy’s achievements in transforming the field of computer science, including through his multiprocessor synchronization specialty, as well as for the profound influence he has had on Brown’s computer science program.

Vincent Mor (Health Services, Policy, and Practice), Distinguished Research Achievement Award. Mor was cited for his sustained success in advancing research in gerontology and health services, and his leadership in building an outstanding public health research program at Brown.

Constantine Dafermos (Applied Mathematics), Distinguished Research Achievement Award. Dafermos has been influential in creating and shaping the Department of Applied Mathematics at Brown, and has had many career achievements, including work in nonlinear systems of hyperbolic conservation laws that brought him the prestigious Norbert Wiener Prize.

Susan Moffitt (Political Science), Early Career Research Achievement Award. Moffitt’s research about American political institutions and public policy is seen as highly innovative, and she was commended for her growing success as a researcher.

Joseph Braun (Epidemiology), Early Career Research Achievement Award. Braun was highlighted for having notable success in obtaining research support as he focuses on studying early life environmental chemical exposures, as well as publishing influential papers and providing excellent research mentorship.

Tim Kraska (Computer Science), Early Career Research Achievement Award. Kraska’s success was cited for obtaining support for research focusing on interactive data exploration and Big Data management systems, and for rapidly becoming established as a leader in his field.

It will be announced later this year when nominations are open for next year’s Research Achievement Awards.

The Research Achievement Awards are one of several Brown internal programs supporting research. Also announced at the April 19 Celebration of Research program were winners of the annual Seed and Salomon awards.