Faculty Honors

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

The outstanding work of the Penn Arts & Sciences faculty continues to be recognized with notable honors and awards. Here are just a few.


(L–R) Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of Religious Studies; Chenshu Zhou, Assistant Professor of History of Art; Marsha I. Lester, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Diana C. Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication; Joseph Francisco, President’s Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science; Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor in Energy Research; Evelyn Thomson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy; Eric Schelter, Professor of Chemistry; Karen Redrobe, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Endowed Professor in Film Studies



Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of Religious Studies, received the Martin Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion from the American Academy of Religion.

Diana C. Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, was co-winner of the 2022 Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association for Winners and Losers: The Psychology of Foreign Trade. Two members of the Department of History of Art were honored by the Society of Cinema and Media Studies for their books. Karen Redrobe, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Endowed Professor in Film Studies, received the Best Edited Collection Award for Deep Mediations: Thinking Space in Cinema and Media Cultures (co-edited with Jeff Scheible of King’s College, London), and Chenshu Zhou, Assistant Professor of History of Art, won Best First Book Award for Cinema Off Screen: Moviegoing in Socialist China.

Evelyn Thomson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, was named an American Physical Society Fellow, who are chosen for their outstanding advances in physics through original research and publication or significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology.

Several faculty members were recognized for their work in chemistry. The American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Physical Chemistry division established a new award, the Marsha I. Lester Award for Exemplary Impact in Physical Chemistry, in honor of Lester, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor in Energy Research, won the 2023 William H. Nichols Medal from the ACS for outstanding contributions in the field of chemistry. Joseph Francisco, President’s Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, received the 2022 Centenary Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Philadelphia Section Award from the ACS. Eric Schelter, Professor of Chemistry, and his team won the 2022 Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize, awarded to the lead author of the published paper, book, or patent that is judged to have made the greatest contribution to understanding the processing, properties, or applications of tantalum.