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22 Faculty Receive Chancellor's
Award
posted September 30,
1998
Twenty-two professors have been recognized this year with
Chancellor's Professorships for distinguished research,
teaching and service.
Created in 1996 as one of Chancellor Tien's Bridge
Initiatives, Chancellor's Professorships offer three annual
stipends of $20,000, to be used for any research-related
expense. As in the past, this year's recipients were
nominated by department chairs or deans.
These last recipients of 60 Chancellor's Professorships,
created to further research on campus, began their
appointments July 1, 1998.
Paul Alivisatos
Department of Chemistry
"I am studying nano-crystals, which are very small
inorganic crystals. They are so small that their properties
depend on size. There's likely to be all kinds of
applications. We all know that electronics is being
miniaturized. The features on computer chips will soon be so
small that size effects become important. Studies of how
properties depend on size are fundamental to our
understanding of materials, so this research is important
for technology as well as science."
Walter Alvarez
Department of Geology and Geophysics
"I am an earth historian, and worked for many years on
the impact that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Now
I'm shifting to the history of mountains and seas in the
Mediterranean area, and the earth history recorded in the
magnificent rock exposures of the Colorado Plateau.
Scientists often find it very hard to obtain research
support when moving into new areas, but the Chancellor's
Professorship will make it possible to support graduate
students whose thesis research is on these new topics. This
financial help could not have come at a better time than
during a major shift in research interests."
George Breslauer
Department of Political Science
"I am taking my first sabbatical leave in 19 years, and
will spend it working on a book that I've tentatively
titled, "Boris Yeltsin as Leader." I have written articles
and published books on the leadership of Khrushchev,
Brezhnev and Gorbachev. Now I will be comparing patterns in
Yeltsin's leadership with that of Gorbachev and Brezhnev.
What this professorship makes possible is several quick
trips to Moscow for research. This is a stunning honor."
Roy Caldwell
Department of Integrative Biology
"This professorship will support some of my field work
-- studying octopus and mantis shrimp -- in Moorea,
Indonesia, and Australia."
James Casey
Department of Mechanical Engineering
"I'll continue to pursue research in continuum
mechanics, particularly in the area of theoretical
plasticity. As funding is limited in the field of
theoretical mechanics, the Chancellor's award provides
welcome support."
David Cohen
Department of Rhetoric
"I'm currently researching World War II war crimes
trials in both Asia and Europe. The records of these trials
are scattered all over the world. I'm trying to collect the
records and archive them, and possibly bring them to the
West Coast."
Eugene Commins
Department of Physics
"I am doing research in experimental physics. I'm
looking for the electric dipole moment of the electron. It
is a problem of considerable interest these days. There is
no practical application but it is conceptually significant
in physics."
Andrea DiSessa
Graduate School of Education
"The professorship will help me continue work on math
and science computer programs for school children --
programs that allow teachers and kids to modify and create
simulations on their own. We think teachers and kids should
be given credit for being creative individuals."
Troy Duster
Department of Sociology
"I am looking at the social meaning of developments in
genetics, examining how people deal with diseases such as
cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia in work, school and
home environments. This research differs from previous
studies, which focused only on people in clinics and
hospitals."
Paula Fass
Department of History
"I am looking at trial spectatorship -- what makes
trials appeal to the public. I am working on a book that
will begin by examining the 'real trial of the century,' the
Nuremburg trial. Given its international significance, the
trial attracted relatively little attention. It was both a
political and a criminal trial but it didn't captivate the
common person."
Jeffrey Frankel
Department of Economics
"I am currently on leave in Washington, DC, as a member
of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. I won't be
returning to teaching and scholarly research for another
year. At Berkeley I was researching regional trading blocs."
Wayne Getz
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and
Management
"I'm working on two projects: the application of neural
network theory to insect olfaction (bugs' ability to smell),
and applying mathematical models to sustainable wildlife
management by rural communities in Africa. The professorship
will help me support a post doc in neural-network modelling
as well as support students working in Africa."
Stephen Glickman
Department of Psychology
"I have been developing an interest in historical topics
related to psychology and biology. The Chancellor's
Professorship will enable me to continue my studies on
Alfred Russell Wallace, who studied natural history in
Indonesia. I'll be able to research both at the places where
he worked and by reading his works in a London library where
they are housed."
David Hollinger
Department of History
"I am working on a book about children of Protestant
missionaries and their impact on American life in the middle
decades of the 20th century."
Chenming Hu
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Sciences
"The professorship will help support an undergraduate
research project called 'Technology for Living,' which
combines undergraduate research with community service. The
students use their technological know-how to help disabled
people, from fixing toys for disabled children to designing
computer-based technologies for disabled adults."
Carolyn Merchant
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and
Management
"I'm putting my courses on the Internet. I'm also
working on a book called 'Reinventing Eden: Women, Nature
and Narrative.' Since the 17th century, Western culture has
tried to turn the earth into a garden-planet by cutting down
the forests and irrigating the deserts in an attempt to
reinvent nature. My book shows how the environmentalists are
trying to restore a lost environment while the progressives
are trying to turn the world into a shopping mall.
William Miller
Department of Chemistry
"I am doing theoretical work trying to explain chemical
reactions at the most fundamental levels."
Eric Rakowski
School of Law
Rakowski is on leave this year, teaching at Harvard. "The
Chancellor's Professorship will enable me to continue my
research on the taxation of wealth and wealth transfers
(estates), and health care."
Marina Ratner
Department of Mathematics
"I plan to use my Chancellor's Professorship to enhance my
research, to attend conferences, and invite colleagues
working on important problems related to my research to come
to Berkeley. I am now working on a number of fundamental
problems in Lie group theory, dynamics, and related number
theory."
Nicholas Sitar
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
"I'm studying the behavior of discontinuous rock masses,
looking at the stability of rock slopes and tunnels in
rock."
Candace Slater
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
"I'm researching contemporary Brazilian literature and
civilization. I'm also examining Latin American and Iberian
folk and popular traditions."
Andrew Stewart
Department of Art History
"I am researching a number of sculptures in France,
Italy and Greece. Some of this work will involve hiring a
professional photographer to document these sculptures which
have never been properly documented and published."
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