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AROUND THE QUADS

IN LUMINE TUO

BRESLOW

Ronald Breslow, the Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry and a University Professor, has been awarded the 2003 Welch Award in Chemistry. The award, which recognizes lifetime achievements in chemical research that offer significant contribution to humanity, is sometimes dubbed the “American Nobel” and consists of a gold medallion and $300,000. Breslow received the prize in Houston, home to the Welch Foundation.

Breslow has been at Columbia for almost 50 years. He has published more than 400 articles and three books and has received numerous accolades, including the Great Teacher Award. Breslow believes that the essential goal of his research field, biomimetic chemistry, is to observe “nature and apply its principles to the invention of novel synthetic compounds that can achieve the same goals.” The Welch award recognizes his breakthroughs in cancer research and other work, including discovery of the natural molecular inner workings of vitamin B1 and a major finding in a theory on aromatic chemistry.

Breslow is the third Columbia professor to win the Welch Award, following Gilbert Stork, Higgins Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, who won in 1993, and Koji Nakanishi, Centennial Professor of Chemistry, who won in 1996.

GENIUSES

Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at the Earth Institute and the 2002 World Food Prize recipient, has been named a MacArthur Fellow for 2003. Joining him from the Columbia community are Sarah Sze, adjunct associate professor of visual arts at the School of the Arts, Anders Winroth ’96 GSAS and Lydia Davis ’70 Barnard.

As the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation celebrates its 25th year of grantmaking, Sanchez, Sze, Winroth and Davis are among 24 people to receive this honor, also known as a “Genius Award.” Each will receive $500,000 across the next five years to be used in an area of his or her choice. Since its inception in 1981, 659 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82, have received the award.

Sanchez is a soil scientist whose practical and economical solutions to problems in land productivity in developing countries have established him as a leader in world agriculture. The practice of agroforestry — planting trees in crop fields to improve nitrogen-fixing in crops — has allowed nearly 250,000 farmers in Africa to fertilize their soil inexpensively and naturally. The improved crop yield subsequently raised many out of hunger.

In addition to his work on tropical agriculture at the Earth Institute, Sanchez advances the use of climate information for sustainable agriculture, particularly rain-fed agriculture, at the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction.

SACHS

Jeffrey Sachs, professor of health policy and management at the Mailman School of Public Health, director of the Earth Institute and Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. New members are elected yearly on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest, concern and involvement with critical issues that affect public health. Only one-quarter of new members are selected from outside the field of medicine.

“Dr. Sachs’ extraordinary leadership and global vision regarding the bridging of development economics and health influences investment in global health, and will affect millions of lives in resource-poor countries,” said Dr. Allan Rosenfield, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health. “As one of the most influential and outspoken economists emphasizing the impact of health on economic growth, Dr. Sachs will make important contributions to the work of the Institute of Medicine.”

Sachs has been involved in providing health care to the world’s poor for years. During 2000–01, he was chairman of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health of the World Health Organization. The commission recommended ways in which countries can use health care spending as a development tool by aiming health spending at diseases and public health issues that drag down regional economies.

HUMANE

Director of the Core Curriculum Eileen Gillooly, adjunct associate professor of English and comparative literature, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. Gillooly’s topic is “Parental Feeling in Nineteenth-Century British Literature and Culture.” She is looking to chart the evolution of the parental role in British society in the 19th century, analyze changing cultural notions of authority and show how it relates to the contemporary literature.

The NEH, which announced the award in November 2002, is an independent federal agency and the largest provider of funds for humanities programs in the United States. It strives to promote excellence in the humanities and convey the lessons of history through annual grants and fellowships to various humanities institutions and individuals.

MAYORAL

Professors Samuel J. Danishefsky, Henning Schulzrinne and Samuel Silverstein were presented on October 8 with the Mayor’s Medal for Excellence in Science and Technology by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The awards recognize outstanding achievements in science and technology by individuals who live or work in New York City.

Danishefsky, a professor of chemistry, was recognized for his creative contributions to organic chemistry and its application to biological problems. Schulzrinne, an associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, received the Mayor’s Medal for Technology. Silverstein, a professor of physiology and cellular biophysics, received the Mayor’s Medal for Excellence for Public Understanding of Science and Technology.

MITTERAND

The French government has named Henri Mitterand, professor of French romance philology, Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Commander, Order of Arts and Letters). The designation is a reward for artistic or literary contributions in France and around the world.

The Order of Arts and Letters comprises three ranks: knight, officer and commander. While many are initially selected as a knight or officer and work their way up to commander, Mitterand immediately was honored with the highest ranking, commander, a distinction 20 people receive each year.

In addition to this honor, Mitterand was awarded the prize of Literary Biography, offered by the French Academy. Both distinctions recognize his three-volume biography of Emile Zola, a French novelist, critic and founder of the naturalist movement in literature. The publication of the biography coincides with the 100th anniversary of the controversial writer’s death.

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