Dean of Faculties Jeanne Sept and Vice Provost for Research Sarita Soni have announced that Ethan Michelson is a recipient of the 2007-08 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award.  This is among the most competitive and prestigious honors awarded by the Bloomington Campus.  Ethan will be able to enjoy some research funds and summer salary – and, of course, the prestige! 

Brian Powell has been awarded the title of Rudy Professor of Sociology, effective January 2008. For the last five years, Brian has been the Allen D. and Polly S. Grimshaw Professor of Sociology, a title that has since been given to Eliza Pavalko. The Rudy Professorship will provide Brian with annual funds to aid his research, for as long as he remains at IU. Congratulations, Brian! In addition, Brian Powell’s 2006 paper in Social Forces, co-authored with Lala Steelman and IU-PhD Bob Carini won the Outstanding Publication Award from the ASA Section on Aging and the Lifecourse.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Sheldon Stryker received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Self and Identity.

Jane McLeod will deliver the Keynote Address and the 11th International Conference on Social Stress Research at Santa Fe in May 2008.

Laurel Cornell won the Cornelis Lely Prize for the “best historical paper with relevance to contemporary policy questions” from the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility. The prize was awarded at a recent meeting in Helmond, The Netherlands. The title of Laure’s prize-winning paper is “How did Roads in the United States Come to be So Large?”

Distinguished Professor Bernice A. Pescosolido won the Hans O. Mauksch Award from the ASA Section on Teaching and Learning, at the annual meetings in New York in August 2007.

Rob Robinson’s paper in the April 2006 American Sociological Review, co-authored with Nancy Davis, won the Distinguished Research Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. It also won the best paper prize from the ASA Section on Religion.

Brian Steensland has been awarded a Research Travel Grant from the College Arts & Humanities Institute (CAHI) to support his project on “Does God Love Free Markets?” Brian’s recent paper in the American Journal of Sociology won the 2007 Best Article Award from the ASA Section on the Sociology of Culture.

Pam Walters has won a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2007-08 – hooray!

Elizabeth Armstrong has been selected as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (Harvard University), and will spend the 2007-08 academic year in Cambridge. Congratulations!

Professor Eliza Pavalko has been named the new editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.