Nov
15

2019 Secretary’s Research Prizes awarded

Secretary Lonnie Bunch presented the Secretary’s Research Prizes for 2019, recognizing outstanding scholarship across disciplines at the Smithsonian Institution at a reception Nov. 3.

These pan-Institutional prizes recognize excellence in recent research by the Institution’s employees and carry a $2,000 award to the primary author’s research account. The work of the Secretary’s Research Prize recipients underwent peer review, and a committee of the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars, representing expertise across the diverse spectrum of Smithsonian scholarship, recommended finalists.

The presentation of the was followed by the sixth annual Bruce William “Will” Morrison (former Director of the Office of Grants and Fellowships (now OFI)) memorial lecture by Dr. Karen Milbourne, Senior Curator at the National Museum of African Art. Dr. Milbourne’s topic is “The Telling Matters: Three Exhibitions at the National Museum of African Art.”

Head shot of Milbourne
Karen Milbourne, National Museum of African Art

The recipients of the 2019 Secretary’s Research Prizes are:

Dr. Alberto Accomazzi, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, for the website: The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System.

Head shot of Bryant
Aaron Bryant, National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington Post photo)

Dr. Aaron Bryant, National Museum of African American History and Culture, for the exhibition: “City of Hope: Resurrection City & the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign”.

B&W photo of Kaeppler in lab
Adrienne Kaepler, National Museum of Natural History

Dr. Adrienne Kaeppler, National Museum of Natural History, for the book: The Iconic Tattooed Man of Easter Island.

Head shot of Pyenson
Nick Pyenson, National Museum of Natural History

Dr. Nicholas Pyenson, National Museum of Natural History, for the book: Spying on Whales.

Head shot of Sholts
Sabrina Sholts, National Museum of Natural History

Dr. Sabrina Sholts, National Museum of Natural History, for the exhibition: “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World”.

Head shot of Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart, Freer|Sackler Galleries of Art

Ms. Jan Stuart, Freer|Sackler Galleries of Art, for the exhibition catalogue: Empresses of China’s Forbidden City, 1644–1912

Ms. Christine Romano, Dr. Thomas Lam, and Ms. Jia-sun Tsang, Museum Conservation Institute, for the symposium proceedings: “Technical Study and Treatment of Paintings by Clementine Hunter”.

Dr. Benjamin Turner, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, for the paper: “Pervasive phosphorus limitation of tree species but not communities in tropical forests”, published in Nature.

Watch the proceedings below.

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Posted: 15 November 2019
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.