USC Dornsife News Briefs highlight faculty research studies, newly published books, awards, grants and other news showcasing faculty members’ work at USC Dornsife. All USC Dornsife faculty are eligible to submit content.
(The diverse opinions expressed in News Briefs do not necessarily represent the views of USC Dornsife administration or USC.)
Hanna Damasio, University Professor, professor of psychology and neurology, and Dana Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience, and Antonio Damasio, University Professor, professor of psychology, philosophy and neurology, and David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience, were honored with the Neuropsychology Global Ambassador Award at the first Global Neuropsychology Congress in Porto, Portugal. This prestigious award acknowledges their exceptional achievements and enduring influence on global neuroscience research and education. The Damasios' groundbreaking research has significantly advanced the understanding of brain processes underlying affect, decision-making, consciousness and language.
Natalia Molina, Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and Dean’s Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, was awarded a Southern California Journalism Award by the Los Angeles Press Club for her poignant opinion piece, “How I learned the Los Angeles Dodgers are L.A.’s language of love," published Aug. 20, 2023 in the Los Angeles Times. Her piece highlights her insightful contribution to the evolving narrative of cultural identity and sports journalism in L.A. The award recognizes outstanding journalism while promoting diversity and excellence across various media platforms in Southern California.
Nayan Shah, professor of American studies and ethnicity and history, has been elected a member of the Society of American Historians. Membership in the society serves as testament to the literary excellence demonstrated in a scholar’s portrayal and analysis of American history, and this recognition celebrates Shah’s exceptional narrative prowess and the scholarly distinction in his historical work.
Joan Flores-Villalobos, assistant professor of history, has received the 2024 David Montgomery Award from the Organization of American Historians (OAH) for her book The Silver Women: How Black Women’s Labor Made the Panama Canal (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023). Silver Women illuminates the oft-overlooked contributions of Black West Indian women to the construction of the Panama Canal. OAH, the largest professional organization dedicated to U.S. history, recognized Flores-Villalobos fo her contribution to scholarship and historical discourse.
Laura Melissa Guzman, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Quantitative and Computational Biology, has been named a 2024 Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. The society’s fellowship program – which includes fellows and early career fellows – recognizes contributions its members make to ecological research, communication, education, management and policy. Guzman, whose research intertwines statistical methodologies, ecological principles and empirical endeavors to unravel the intricacies of biodiversity decline, is among 10 new early career fellows elected for advancing the science of ecology and showing promise for continuing contributions.
Greta Panova, Gabilan Distinguished Professor in Science and Engineering and professor of mathematics, has been named a 2024 Fellow in Mathematics by the Simons Foundation. Renowned for her expertise in combinatorics, probability and theoretical computer science, Panova’s selection underscores her exceptional contributions to the field. The Simons Fellows program extends academic leaves from one term to a full year, aiming to enable recipients to focus solely on research for the long periods often necessary for significant advances.
Percival Everett, Distinguished Professor of English, was named on the Los Angeles Times’ list of the 50 Best Hollywood Books of All Time. His book Erasure (Graywolf Press, 2011) appears at No. 20 on the list, which encompasses fiction and nonfiction across genres and decades and was compiled from a survey of experts in the worlds of publishing and entertainment. The book was the basis for the Academy Award-winning movie American Fiction.
Evelyn Alsultany, professor of American studies and ethnicity, was named on the Los Angeles Times’ list of the 50 Best Hollywood Books of All Time. Her book Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11 (NYU Press, 2012) appears at No. 46 on the list, which encompasses fiction and nonfiction across genres and decades and was compiled from a survey of experts in the worlds of publishing and entertainment. The L.A. Times notes that Alsultany’s book “keenly avoids endorsement of neat categories like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ representation, aiming instead to complicate how it is that media images on either side of that divide can fuel meanings that end up justifying policies of exclusion and inequality.”
Jody Agius Vallejo, associate professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity, has been awarded the 2023 Award for Public Sociology in International Migration. Conferred by the American Sociological Association, the award seeks to underscore the need to foster scholarly collaboration toward a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted causes and consequences of international migration as well as the assimilation of immigrants within host societies. Vallejo was recognized for her achievements in pioneering empirical investigations pertaining to the intricate dynamics of international migration policy.
