Mar
15

UPDATED WITH VIDEO: The Secretary’s 2023 Research Awards

The Secretary’s Research Prizes for 2023, recognizing outstanding scholarship across disciplines at the Smithsonian. The in-person ceremony will take place on Tuesday, March 19. The event will start with a light breakfast reception in the Freer Conference room from 8:30 – 9:15 a.m., followed by the program in Meyer Auditorium from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.

The presentation of the Secretary’s Research Prizes will be followed by the 10th annual Bruce William “Will” Morrison memorial lecture. The lecture is named in honor of Morrison, who retired as program manager after many years in the Office of Fellowships and Grants (now known as the Office of Academic Appointments and Internships). This year’s talk will be delivered by Erin Spear, Microbial Ecologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Dr. Spear will present on “Life from Death: the role of pathogens in maintaining tropical forest diversity.”

Head shot of Dr Erin Spear against tropical foliage

Dr. Erin Spear, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

The recipients of the 2023 Secretary’s Research Prizes are:

  • Bethanee Bemis (National Museum of American History) for the scholarly book: Disney Theme Parks and America’s National Narratives.
  • Rhea Combs (National Portrait Gallery) for the exhibition catalogue: Black Cinema: 1898 – 1971.
  • Debra Diamond (National Museum of Asian Art) for the exhibition catalogue: A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur.
  • Andrea Dupree (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) for the article: “The Great Dimming of Betelgeuse: A Surface Mass Ejection and its Consequences.”
  • Lynn Heidelbaugh (National Postal Museum) and Thomas Paone (National Air and Space Museum) for the scholarly book: Between Home and the Front: Civil War Letters of the Walters Family.
  • Jeremy Kinney (NASM) for the exhibition without a published catalogue: Nation of Speed.
  • Rachel Page (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) for the edited volume: How Enemies Shape Communication Systems: Sensory Strategies of Prey to Avoid Eavesdropping Predators and Parasites.
  • David Penney (National Museum of the American Indian) for the exhibition catalogue: Dakota Modern: Oscar Howe.
  • Dominic Pesce (SAO) for the article: “First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. IV. Variability, Morphology, and Black Hole Mass.”
  • Jon Blundell (Office of the Chief Information Officer), Nicholas Pyenson (NMNH), and Holly Little (NMNH), for the article: “Grouping behavior in a Triassic marine apex predator.”

These pan-Institutional prizes recognize excellence in recent research by the Institution’s employees and carry a $2,000 award (per project) for future research. 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.

Please join us for this celebration of the outstanding scholarship at the Smithsonian. For those unable to attend in person, Erin Spear’s talk and the awards presentation ceremony will be livestreamed on Prism (SI network connection required) and on UStream (no SI network connection required.)

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Posted: 15 March 2024
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.