Associates Award for Creativity in Research
Download the 2012 Associates Award guidelines.
Nomination Deadline: September 28, 2011. Please email materials to the Office of Research (vpres@usc.edu).
Overview
The Associates Awards for Creativity in Research are the highest honors the university faculty can bestow on its members for distinguished intellectual and artistic achievements.
Creativity in research includes the written publication of ideas, artistic creation, and artistic performance. Creativity may stem from a single brilliant idea or from a significant body of work that forms a coherent whole. Creativity in research leads to major impacts on a discipline, on the interface between different disciplines, or on the creation of viable new areas of scholarly inquiry.
2011 Recipients of The Associates Award for Creativity in Research
Thomas Jordan, Earth Sciences
An internationally acclaimed geophysicist, Professor Thomas Jordan is one of the foremost experts in seismology. He has authored over 200 scientific publications covering myriad topics within his field, and has made profound contributions to our understanding of the structure of the earth’s interior and the motion of tectonic plates.
Professor Jordan is the director of USC’s Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), a multidisciplinary research consortium comprising more than 600 researchers from over 60 institutions. In his work at the SCEC, he has championed the use of high-performance computing technologies to simulate earthquakes and the physical processes that cause them, and he has led major outreach efforts to educate the public on earthquake preparedness.
Seeking more precision in earthquake forecasting techniques, he established the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability – a virtual, global network of scientists, statisticians, and policymakers that addresses fundamental questions concerning scientific prediction experiments and the intrinsic predictability of earthquakes.
He continues to make significant research contributions, particularly through joint efforts with his graduate students, and accepts invitations to speak at elementary schools, high schools, and universities throughout the world. As one colleague writes, “the man’s generosity and energy are unbelievable.”
Professor Jordan earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the California Institute of Technology. Before joining USC’s faculty in 2000, he was chair of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been elected to several of the nation’s most prestigious scientific bodies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the national Academy of Sciences.
Ruth Weisberg, Fine Arts
Ruth Weisberg is a renowned printmaker, drawer, and painter. Her evocative works incorporate images and structural ideas from across the history of art, and explore contemporary themes of spiritual yearning, community, and cultural identity. Throughout her storied career, she created a number of masterpieces, but any list of her accomplishments must include her stellar legacy of leadership at the USC Roski School of Fine Arts.
Professor Weisberg served as the school’s dean from 1995 to 2010. During her tenure, the school received its historic naming gift, and the number of freshmen applying for admission nearly quadrupled, while faculty doubled. She previously served as chair of the school’s studio arts department, and continues as a professor in the painting and drawing area.
Meanwhile, Professor Weisberg’s record of artistic achievement is extraordinary. Her works have been collected by a number of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; Instituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome; the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the Getty Center; and the Art Institute of Chicago. She has had more that 75 solo shows, including exhibitions at the Norton Simon Museum; the Skirball Cultural Center; the Huntington Library and Art Collections; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; and the University of Michigan.
The recent book American Artists, Jewish Images ranked Professor Weisberg among the most influential Jewish American artists working today. Her monumental 94-foot-long mixed-media drawing The Scroll has been called “one of the most important Jewish works of art made at the end of the twentieth century.” Professor Weisberg served as president of the College Art Association and is the founding chair of the Jewish Artists Initiative of Southern California.
Previous Recipients
2010
Mark Humayun, Ophthalmology & Biomedical Engineering
Priya Vashishta, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Physics & Astronomy
2009
Edward J. McCaffery, Law
P. Daniel Dapkus, Engineering
2008
Nicos Petasis, Chemistry
Nicholas Warner, Physics
2007
Cheng-Ming Choung, Pathology
Mark Thompson, Chemistry
2006
Theodore Berger, Biomedical Engineering
David James, Critical Studies
2005
Stephen Hartke, Music
Larry Swanson, Biological Sciences, Psychology & Neurology
2004
Terence Langdon, Engineering
Elyn Saks, Law
2003
Adrian Raine, Psychology
John E. Wills, Jr., Chinese History
2002
Barry Glassner, Sociology
Charles G. Sammis, Geophysics/Materials Science
2001
Myron F. Goodman, Molecular Biology
William H. Steier, Electrical Engineering
2000
Prakash, G.K. Surya, Chemistry
Thompson, Richard F., Psychology & Biological Sciences
1999
Biederman, Irving, Letters, Arts and Sciences
Shih, Jean C., Pharmacy
1998
Barnouw, Dagmar, Letters, Arts and Sciences
Lai, Michael, Microbiology
1997
Klein, Malcolm W., Letters, Arts and Sciences
Aoun, Joseph, Letters, Arts and Sciences
1996
Adleman, Leonard, Computer Science
Pike, Malcolm, Preventive Medicine
1995
Bergman, Richard N., Physiology & Biophysics
Kinder, Marsha, Cinema Television
1994
Resnik, Judith, Law
Garmire, Elsa, Electrical Engineering
1993
Aki, Kei, Geological Sciences
Dear, Micheal J., Geography
1992
Susskind, Miram M., Molecular Biology
Waterman, Michael S., Biological Sciences
1991
Bengston, Vern L., Gerontology
Breuer, Melvin A., Electrical Engineering
1990
Dalton, Larry R., Chemistry
Goldstein, Joshua S., International Relations
1989
Banner, Lois W., S.W.M.S.
Lawler III, Edward E., Business Administration
1988
Benedict, William F., Pediatrics
Reed, Irving S., Electrical Engineering
1987
Massry, Shaul G., Medicine
Pollack, Daniel, Music
1986
Reed, Christopher A., Chemistry
Rosenau, James N., International Relations
1985
Finch, Caleb E., Gerontology
Olah, George A., Chemistry
1984
Benson, Sydner W., Chemistry
Maki, Kazumi, Physics
1983
Jones, Peter A., Biological Chemistry
Wittig, Curt F., Physics
1982
Cope, Jackson I., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Heidelberger, Charles, Medicine
1981
O’Toole, James, Management & Organization
Warshel, Arieh, Chemistry
1980
Ritcheson, Charles, History
Slavkin, Harold C., Dentistry
Stone, Christopher D., Law
1979
Bau, Robert, Chemistry
Birren, James E., Psychology
1978
Bessman, Samuel P., Pharmacology & Nutrition
Schnepp, Otto O., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1977
Stephens, Philip J., Chemistry
1976
Hellwarth, Robert W., Electrical Engineering
McClelland, Charles A., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Parker, Hershel, Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1975
Dales, Richard C., History
Moore, Sally F., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Vogt, Peter K., Microbiology
1974
Greene, Donald J., English
Taylor, Howard S., Chemistry
1973
Dunn, Arnold, Biological Sciences
Moote, A. Lloyd, History
1971
Bavetta, Lucien A., Dentistry
Porto, Sergio P. S., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1970
Adamson, Arthur W., Chemistry
Schulz, Max F., English
1969
Grings, William W., Psychology
Spitzer, William G., Physics, Astronomy, Electrophysics
1968
Brodie, Arnold F., Biological Sciences
Golomb, Solomon W., Electrical Engineering/Systems
1967
Bandy, Orville L., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Waterman, John T., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1966
Christensen, Francis, Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Hartman, Olga, Biological Sciences
1965
Lovell, Colin R., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
McElderry, Bruce R., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1964
Anton, Bruce R., Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Giulford, J. P., Letters, Arts and Sciences
1963
Busemann, Herbert, Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Webb, John L., Pharmacology