2017 Secretary’s Research Prizes Awarded

The awards recognize excellence across the spectrum of Smithsonian scholarship.

The 2017 Secretary’s Research Prizes were awarded Sept. 27 to recognize excellence in recent research by Smithsonian staff. The recipients’ work underwent peer review and a committee representing research areas across the spectrum of Smithsonian scholarship recommended the finalists. Each recipient also received a $2,000 award to the primary author’s research account.

Following the presentation of the awards, the fourth annual Bruce “Will” Morrison memorial lecture was given by Dr. Rhea Combs, curator for photography and film and head of the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her lecture is entitled “Reframing History: Photography and African American Visual Culture.”

Congratulations to the 2017 recipients

• Sean M. Andrews and David J. Wilner of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for the co-authored article “Ringed Substructure and a Gap at 1 au in the Nearest Protoplanetary Disk” published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters 820,
  no. 2 (2016): L40.
• Olivia Cadaval, Sojin Kim and Diana B. N’Diaye of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage for their co-edited volume “Curatorial Conversations: Cultural Representation and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival” published by the University Press of Mississippi, 2016.
• Jon Grinspan of the National Museum of American History for his book “The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the Nineteenth Century” published by University of North Carolina Press Books, 2016.
• Karen Y. Lemmey of the Smithsonian American Art Museum for her article “From Skeleton to Skin: The Making of the Greek Slave(s)” published in 19th C Art World Wide Summer 16.
• Mireya Loza of the National Museum of American History for her book “Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom” published by University of North Carolina Press Books, 2016.
• Aaron O’Dea, Harilaos A. Lessios, Anthony G. Coates, Robert F. Stallard, Egbert G. Leigh, and Jeremy B. C. Jackson of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Drs. Nancy Knowlton and Nicholas D. Pyenson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for the co-authored article “Formation of the Isthmus of Panama” published in Science Advances.
• Dwandalyn R. Reece of the National Museum of African American History and Culture for her exhibit without a catalogue “Musical Crossroads.”
• Massumeh Farhad and Simon G. Rettig of the Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for the co-authored exhibit catalogue “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” published by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
• Torben C. Rick of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Drs. Denise Breitburg, Matthew B. Ogburn, and Anson H. Hines of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center for the co-authored article “Millennial-scale sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Native American oyster fishery” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Helena E. Wright of the National Museum of American History for her book “The First Smithsonian Collection: The European Engravings of George Perkins Marsh and the Role of Prints in the US National Museum” published by Smithsonian Institution, 2015.

Watch the entire program:

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