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Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, had his book “The Story of Earth” selected for the Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize short list (the winner to be announced in October), and the Kirkus Review top 25 nonfiction books of 2012. He gave a keynote lecture on “The Diamond Makers” at the Industrial Diamond Association convention in Baltimore. He lectured on “Carbon at the Extremes” at a Nobel Symposium in Stockholm and presented lectures on mineral evolution and origins of life as a visiting professor at the University of Milan, Italy. He presented the plenary lecture “Earth’s Carbon through Deep Time” at the Goldschmidt (Geochemical Society) Conference in Florence, Italy. He was also featured in six lectures on a Scientific American cruise to the Norwegian fjords.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, gave a presentation to the U.S. State Department on traditional leadership in northern Nigeria.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, participated in a three-day roundtable with business leaders, academics, and business school deans at the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program in Aspen, Colo. The discussions focused on ways to change norms of behavior among corporate executives, directors and Wall Street money managers to incorporate the needs and interests of a wider arrangement of company stakeholders beyond simply shareholders. He participated in a roundtable discussion of “Reevaluating the Values of Free Market Competition” as part of the Legatum Institute’s ongoing Morality and Capitalism series.

Shaul Bakhash, Robinson Professor of History, presented and chaired a meeting on “Measuring Change in Iran” at the National Defense University. He presented and chaired a meeting on “Rouhani: Challenges at Home, Challenges Abroad” at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He was interviewed and quoted on numerous occasions by the Thomson-Reuters new agency, was interviewed on KBIA-FM public radio (affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism), and was interviewed on Context, the Woodrow Wilson Center current affairs TV program.

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, was interviewed by the New York Times for the essay “People Don’t Just Follow the Money.”

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, had his most recent book, “The Story of Earth,” selected as a finalist in the Royal Society of London’s Winton Science Book Prize. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced in November.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, served on two panels at the McGill University conference on “Religion and Foreign Policy.” He participated in the Council on Foreign Relations Fund for Peace study of violence in northern Nigeria and in the Council on Foreign Relations Advisory Council on “U.S. policy in the Sahel.” He lectured at the U.S. Institute of Peace on “Midterm Challenges in Nigeria: Elections, Parties, and Regional Conflict” and at the Institute for Defense Analysis on “Boko Haram.” He presented a full-length report on “Countering Violent Extremism in Northern Nigeria: Development Options Beyond States of Emergency” for USAID.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, was the commencement speaker in May at the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice. At Penn State’s International Conference on Policing in the 21st Century, she was a plenary speaker on “Connecting Science to Practice.” She presented the keynote address at the Delaware Center for Justice Annual Meeting, speaking on “Positioning Prisoner Reentry Programs for Success.”

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented a keynote lecture at the first International Symposium of the Earth-Life Science Institute in Tokyo, Japan, and was named to the Board of Advisors. He presented the Qualline Lectures at the University of Texas, Austin, and the Naff Symposium Lecture at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. He also lectured at Rockefeller University and at the Sloan Foundation in New York City. 

Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, wrote a chapter titled “The Varieties of American Exceptionalism,” in the book “American Exceptionalism: The Origins, History and Future of America’s Greatest Strength,” edited by Charles W. Dunn and published by Rowman and Littlefield. At a joint Harvard/Boston College conference honoring the work of the late James Q. Wilson, Heclo presented a luncheon talk titled “Jim Wilson’s Gold Mean.”

Carma Hinton, Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies, gave a lecture, “From Mao to Mozart to Requiem for the Earth,” at the George Mason University Faculty Arts Council meeting before the performance of the China National Symphony Orchestra. She gave a lecture, “Discipline and Creativity: Aspects of Chinese Aesthetics,” at the Meeting of the National Society of Arts and Letters, Washington, D.C. Chapter, at the Mason Art Gallery in connection with the exhibition Chinese Scrolls from the Collection of Dr. Chi Wang. She gave a presentation, “Wang Yizhi and Education Reform in 1960s China,” at an American Association for the Advancement of Science roundtable in celebration of Chris Gilmartine’s contribution to Chinese Studies. She gave a presentation, “The Environment and Food Safety in China,” as part of a panel titled “Food Security and Well-Being” organized by the George Mason University Chapter of Table for Two. She gave a lecture and film presentation, “Exploring China’s Cultural Dynamism through Documentary Films,” at the 2013 National Chinese Language Conference.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, published a report for the U.S. Institute of Peace, “Midterm Challenges in Nigeria: Elections, Parties, and Regional Conflict.” He presented at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies on “The Future of Governance and Security in the Sahalian States,” and he presented at a State Department conference on Nigeria titled “Civil Society: Northern Political, Traditional, and Religious Leaders.” 

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, moderated a panel on Competitiveness at the annual conference of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The panel included the chief executives of Xerox, Citigroup and the Center for American Progress. 

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Evidence-Based Crime Policy at the 2013 Joint Symposium of Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy held in concert with the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. She spoke at a New York University Law School faculty seminar on the future of federal investments in criminal justice research and anticrime programs in an era of sequestration and budget cuts. 

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, recorded an interview for “Big Picture Science” in the episode “Time for a Map” that went out to radio stations and podcast sites.

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, spoke on “The Underground Railroad in Virginia” at the Prince William County three-day program “Lest We Forget,” a conference on enslavement and emancipation. He also spoke at the Trinity School in New York City on “The Work of a Public Historian” and “The Great Migration of African Americans.”

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, was the keynote speaker at the Deep Carbon Science conference at the U.S. National Academies of Science, at the EarthCube Stakeholders meeting at the Smithsonian Institution, and at the Earth-Life Science Initiative Symposium in Tokyo. He presented lectures at the Harvard University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and presented a public lecture on evolution as part of the Harvard Natural History Museum “Evolution matters” series. Hazen was featured on more than 400 international TV, radio, and print media features in conjunction with the release of “Carbon in Earth,” a comprehensive survey of the physical, chemical and biological behavior of carbon in Earth, which he co-authored and edited.

 

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, moderated a panel discussion in Chicago at a conference hosted by the Aspen Institute and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The conference was titled “Rethinking Shareholder Value and the Purpose of the Corporation.”

 

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented three talks at the Economics Institute for Judges in Orange, Calif.: “The Scientific Method,” “Elements of Scientific Decision Making” and “The Extinction of the Dinosaurs: The Scientific Method in Action.” He also presented “The Other 98 Percent: Science Education for Everyone – A Story in Three Heresies,” at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, participated in the video segment “Underground Railroad: Network to Freedom,” which aired in the February “County Magazine” program on Channel 16, Fairfax County Government’s cable channel.

 

Paul D’Andrea, Robinson Professor of Theater and English, had his play “The Einstein Project” presented in February at Montana State University as part of MSU President Waded Cruzado’s “Celebrating Einstein” Fine Arts Series, which hosts events centered on the theme “Art of Science — Science of Art.”

 

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, was the Linus Pauling lecturer of the Association for Science, Technology and Public Policy in Portland, Ore. He was also keynote speaker at the Gordon Research Conference on Geobiology in Ventura, Calif., and he lectured at Portland State University, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.

 

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice, an independent and nonpartisan center for justice research and policy based in New York City.

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, presented “Abraham Lincoln’s Dilemma Concerning African American Soldiers Fighting in the Civil War” at a Chicago Teachers Symposium on the Living Constitution. He was a seminar leader on Public History at the Seminar for Historical Administration sponsored by the Association of State and Local History. He presented on a panel titled “Emancipation at 150: The Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation” at the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, D.C. His topic was “The Response of Enslaved African Americans to the Issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.” He presented “Views of Emancipation through the Eyes of the Enslaved” on a related online article published by the Lincoln Cottage. “Emancipation at 150: The Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation” is an anthology of the latest research on the Emancipation Proclamation from leading Lincoln scholars and government officials, jointly produced by the President Lincoln’s Cottage and the United States Commission on Civil Rights. This publication is available to the public as a free PDF download.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, received an honorary doctorate degree from Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, Nigeria, for “immense contribution to the advancement of the frontiers of knowledge and scholarship.”

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, attended a ceremony at which Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. presented the first Laurie O. Robinson Award created by the U.S. Department of Justice to recognize outstanding contributions by an individual in the department’s Office of Justice Programs for advancing the use of scientific research in criminal justice policy or practice. She participated in a panel at the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) Annual Meeting on the National Research Council report, “Using Science as Evidence in Public Policy.”

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented “The Extinction of the Dinosaurs: The Scientific Method in Action” at the Economics Institute for Judges in Coral Gables, Fla., sponsored by Mason’s Law and Economics Center.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, delivered the Condon Lecture on the origin of life and the Moore Lecture on mineral evolution, both at Oregon State University. He also presented the following: a keynote lecture on deep carbon mineralogy at the Geological Society of America’s Annual Meeting in Charlotte, N.C.; the keynote address on mineral evolution to the Virginia Community College System’s science conference in Virginia Beach, Va.; and a lecture on the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere at the Coast Geological Society in Ventura, Calif.

Harold Morowitz, Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy, was the co-author of “Framing the Question of Fine-Tuning for Intermediary Metabolism,” a chapter in the new book “Fitness of the Cosmos for Life,” published by Cambridge University Press.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, spoke to the Consumer Federation of America at its annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C. He was also named one of the Washington Business Journal’s 100 most influential people in Washington, D.C., for 2012.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented lectures on the origin of life for Montana State University and on mineral evolution at the German Geosciences Institute in Potsdam, Germany.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, chaired a roundtable on translational criminology at the annual symposium of Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. She was also named to the Board of Trustees of CNA, a research and analysis organization that includes the Center for Naval Analyses.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented “Science and the Law: An American Perspective” at IX Conference of the Society of Physicists of Macedonia, Orhid, Macedonia.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented a lecture on mineral evolution at the University of Arizona. He has been named the 2012 Condon Lecturer of Oregon State University and a 2013 Linus Pauling Lecturer by the Institute for Science, Engineering and Public Policy.

Steven Pearlstein, Robinson Professor of Public and International Affairs, participated in a panel discussion on the political and media environments for federal budget policy at the annual meeting of the Academy for Government Accountability held at Mason’s Arlington Campus.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, wrote the forward in a newly published volume, “From Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime” from Oxford University Press. She recently received awards from two national organizations for contributions to the criminal justice field: SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, presented its Justice Policy Leadership Award to her at its annual conference in Cincinnati in July, and the National Criminal Justice Association bestowed its Career Service Award on her at its annual meeting in Albuquerque, also in July.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, presented lectures on “Unanswered Questions in Deep Carbon Research” at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York, the Geochemical Society meeting in Montreal, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He also presented lectures on “Mineral Evolution” at Boston College, MIT, the Geochemical Society meeting in Montreal and the National Science Foundation.

Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, coached high school students from the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School representing Virginia in the “We the People, the Citizen and the Constitution” competition held annually in Washington, D.C. They won second place in this national championship competition.

Carma Hinton, Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies, introduced her award-winning documentary, “The Gate of Heavenly Peace,” at a screening at The Museum of Chinese in America in New York.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, presented “Postelection Conflict Management in Nigeria,” to the Council on Foreign Relations.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, presented “Copernicus and Copernicium 112” Plenary Address at the Polish American Arts Association. He also wrote “Problem Sets” with Sarah Swartz for Physics Today, May 2012; “The Planet in a Pebble” for “Quarterly Review of Biology, June 2012; and “Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond,” for National Geographic Books. He was named editor in chief of a multivolume reference work on scientific discovery to be published by MacMillan/Cengage.