Assistant Professor of Psychology Mina Cikara has been selected to receive the 2019 Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science (APS).   The Spence award recognizes young researchers who cross traditional sub-disciplinary lines in psychological science and honors contributions that reveal the organization underlying complex behavior by drawing upon multiple fields of psychological science.

Steven Pinker wins the 2018 Carl Sagan Award for Public Appreciation of Science from the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.  The award is given annually by the society to recognize an individual for outstanding achievement in improving the public understanding and appreciation of science. 

Past winners include Carl Sagan, E. O. Wilson, Bill Nye, Phil Zimbardo, and Thomas Friedman.

 

 

The Cognitive Neuroscience Society's Distinguished Career Contributions Award was established in 2012 and it was sponsored by the Fred Kavli Foundation from 2015-2018. This award honors senior cognitive neuroscientists for their sustained and distinguished career, including outstanding scientific contributions, leadership and mentoring in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics and Harvard College Professor, was presented with the rare and prestigious APS Golden Goose Award by the United States Congress.  This award honors scientists whose federally funded basic research has resulted in major benefits to society. The Golden Goose Award, given annually by a committee led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), recognizes research that may have seemed trivial when it first received US government funding, but has since returned serious benefits to public welfare. 

Professor Elizabeth A. Phelps has been awarded the 2019 Association of Psychological Science William James Fellow Award.  This award honors APS members for their lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology. Recipients must be APS members recognized internationally for their outstanding contributions to scientific psychology. 

Professor John Weisz was selected by Scientific Research Council to receive the 2019 Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health. The award is given to an individual who has made a seminal contribution to the field of child mental health and has mentored others who have continued to advance the research of the field.

Associate Professor Leah Somerville was selected for the Flux Society's Young Investigator Award in Cognitive Neuroscience, for 2018.  This award recognizes outstanding contributions by scientists early in their careers. Award recipients have been working in the area of cognitive neuroscience for no more than 10 years involved in active independent research.

Michael D. Smith, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, nominated Mattew K. Nock to be appointed as the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology.  The Provost offcially recognized this appointment retroactive to July 1, 2017.  This chair was established in 1929 as part of the bequest of Edgar Pierce, who graduated from Harvard College in 1892, and earned his Ph.D. in  Philosophy here in 1895.  The donor's intent was to honor a leading scholar in Philosophy or Psychology.

Mahzarin Banaji has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars. Established by an Act of Congress, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. The NAS is committed to furthering science in America, and its members are active contributors to the international scientific community. Nearly 500 members of the NAS have won Nobel Prizes, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, founded in 1914, is today one of the premier international journals publishing the results of original research.

Professor Daniel Gilbert just received the 2019 APS’s William James Fellow Award as well as the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Graduate Student Council at Harvard University.

The APS William James Fellow Award honors APS members for their lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology. Recipients must be APS members recognized internationally for their outstanding contributions to scientific psychology. 

The Everett Mendelsohn Award is awarded by the GSAS Graduate Student Council for excellence by faculty in mentoring graduate students.