How ‘Conan the Bacterium’ withstands extreme radiation
December 9, 2024
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University professor Jennifer Richeson, a social psychologist who studies the social psychological phenomena of cultural diversity, has been elected a member of the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States. Richeson is among 84 new members and 21 foreign associates from 15 countries recognized for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Earlier this month, Richeson also was named a Guggenheim Fellow.
MacArthur Foundation Chair and professor of psychology and of African-American studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Richeson researches social group membership, particularly the ways race and gender impact the way people think, feel and behave.
Her work has been published in various scholarly journals, including Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Nature Neuroscience and Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Coverage of her work also has appeared in popular publications such as The Economist and The New York Times.
Richeson was a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Research Institute of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity in 2004 and 2005. In 2009, she received the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions to Psychology from the American Psychological Association.
Richeson, who also is a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern, was named one of 25 MacArthur Fellows in 2006 for her work as a leader in “highlighting and analyzing major challenges facing all races in America and in the continuing role played by prejudice and stereotyping in our lives.”
There are now 2,250 active National Academy of Science members and 452 foreign associates, of whom approximately 200 have received Nobel prizes.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and -- with the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council -- provides science, technology and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
