Two Vanderbilt faculty members are among the 23 recipients of the 2024 National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation—the nation’s highest honors for exemplary achievement and leadership in science and technology.
May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science Larry Bartels and Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy Keivan Stassun were presented with their medals by President Joe Biden at a White House ceremony on Jan. 3.
“This highly distinguished honor recognizes the exceptional contributions Professors Bartels and Stassun have made toward advancing scientific knowledge and innovation,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. “It is also a testament to the extraordinary talent in our community and to Vanderbilt’s steadfast dedication to fostering research and scholarship at the highest levels. Professors Bartels and Stassun’s work has had a transformative impact on their fields. I am proud to congratulate Professors Bartels and Stassun on their remarkable achievement.”
Established in 1959 by the U.S. Congress, the National Medal of Science is the highest recognition the nation can bestow on scientists and engineers. The presidential award is given to individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences in service to the nation. These broad areas include such disciplines as astronomy, chemistry, computer and information science and engineering, geoscience, materials research and research on STEM education. The NMS Program is managed by the National Science Foundation.
“This nationally prestigious recognition of Professors Bartels and Stassun reflects Vanderbilt’s commitment to highest-impact, world-changing scholarship,” said C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Their groundbreaking work on democracy and in STEM exemplifies the power of research to benefit society and drive positive change.”
A BODY OF WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Bartels is one of the world’s most influential scholars of democratic politics. Much of Bartels’ research is focused on electoral politics, public opinion and the role of citizens in the policymaking process. He also studies issues of representation and democratic theory.
He has written more than 50 scholarly articles and book chapters on electoral politics, public opinion, public policy and political representation. Bartels’ books include Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age, Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice and Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe.
He has received the Warren E. Miller Prize for contributions to the study of elections, public opinion and voting behavior; the Career Achievement Award from the Society for Political Methodology and Vanderbilt’s Earl Sutherland Prize for Career Achievement in Research, among many other awards and honors.
Stassun, who is founding co-director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program and the director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation , was also among the 2024 MacArthur fellows. His work, which concerns star evolution and exoplanet discovery, has been widely published in various journals, including The Astronomical Journal and The Astrophysical Journal.
Through his efforts with the Fisk-Vanderbilt bridge program, Stassun has helped increase diversity among students receiving advanced degrees in STEM fields. Students earn a master’s at Fisk, a historically Black university, and are then encouraged to apply to the Vanderbilt Ph.D. program. The program serves as a stepping stone for promising students who may not have the opportunity to gain the experiences or skills needed to go directly into a Ph.D. program.
In the five years since the opening of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, Stassun’s leadership has witnessed the launch of the College Autism Network, a collection of more than 100 colleges and universities that offer support programs for autistic and other neurodiverse students; running a graduate certificate program in Neurodiversity Inspired Science & Engineering that has awarded more Ph.D.’s to autistic scientists and engineers than any other program; and supporting partnering labs in the development and commercialization of technologies to support independence and employment for autistic adults.
“Larry and Keivan are extraordinarily deserving of this high-profile honor,” said Timothy P. McNamara, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science. “Both of them have conducted groundbreaking scholarship, made an enormous impact on their respective fields, and devoted themselves to improving and advancing our understanding of science—and our world. I am proud to call them colleagues, as they contribute greatly to the College of Arts and Science, to Vanderbilt University and to society.”
