Newsmakers

Dibner Institute appoints Cavicchi for second year

For the second straight year, the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) has awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to former Graduate School of Education (GSE) lecturer Elizabeth Cavicchi. As a Dibner Institute Fellow, Cavicchi, who received her Ed.D. from GSE, will conduct research on induction-coil making by 19th century amateurs and the educational and historical ramifications of replicating their experiments.

ROTC cadet receives top award

Harvard senior Charlie Cromwell, a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadet with the Paul Revere battalion, was named the George C. Marshall award winner at the George C. Marshall Conference at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., on April 18. The award is presented to the top cadet in each of the nation’s ROTC programs for outstanding achievement in academics, leadership, physical fitness, and extracurricular activities. In addition to Harvard, the Paul Revere battalion comprises students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Salem State College, Tufts University, and Wellesley College.

Liu named Young Investigator winner

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation has given David Liu, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, a Beckman Young Investigator Award to support his research – “Evolving Libraries of Non-Natural Synthetic Small Molecules.” Recipients of this award must be in their first three years of tenure-track appointments in academic and nonprofit institutions that conduct fundamental research in the chemical and life sciences. These grants total $240,000 to be awarded over a three-year term.

Summers to present Sudler Prize

President Lawrence H. Summers will award the 19th annual Louis Sudler Prize for undergraduate artistic achievement to three seniors – Christopher Hossfeld for music, Cary McClelland for theater, and Jeff Sheng for visual arts – at this Saturday’s Arts First President’s reception (5 to 7 p.m. under the Arts First tent). The Office for the Arts sponsors the prize, which includes a cash award of $1,000.

Mendelsohn Award winners announced

At the Graduate Student Council (GSC) Excellence in Mentoring Award reception at Dudley House on April 18, the GSC announced that the award has been renamed in honor of Everett Mendelsohn, professor of the history of science, who is stepping down as Dudley House Master this year. The award will henceforth be known as the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award.

This year’s award recipients are Joan Brugge, professor of cell biology; Gonzalo Giribet, assistant professor of biology and assistant curator of invertebrates; J. Richard Hackman, Cahner-Rabb Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology; Christopher Jencks, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy; and Michael Puett, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities.

Meng receives Beinecke Scholarship

Harvard junior Sue Meng has been awarded a Beinecke Scholarship to support her graduate studies in English literature. Meng, an Adams House resident, plans to concentrate on Victorian literature and cultural studies. This year, the $32,000 scholarship was awarded to 20 individuals nominated by 103 colleges and universities.

– Compiled by Andrew Brooks