The Robinson Professors

January 2015 Accolades

Spencer R. Crew, Robinson Professor of American, African American, and Public History, was the keynote speaker at the New Jersey Forum at Kean University, which had the theme “Liberty, Diversity and Innovation.” His talk was titled “The Rugged Road to Citizenship: New Jersey’s Response to Newcomers from the American Revolution to the Present.”

Paul D’Andrea, Robinson Professor of Theater and English, won a 2015 Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award. The award will be presented on the floor of the General Assembly in Richmond on Feb. 19, 2015.

Robert Hazen, Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, was the opening plenary speaker at the American Society of Cell Biology annual meeting in Philadelphia. Hazen spoke on mineral ecology. He also organized and chaired the Deep-Time Data Workshop at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies, participated in a Council on Foreign Relations roundtable on U.S. policy on Boko Haram, participated in a two-day role-playing peace game on Nigeria at the U.S. Institute of Peace, briefed senior U.S. officials on the upcoming election in Nigeria, and briefed the U.S. State Department on security issues in Nigeria.

Laurie O. Robinson, Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, was named by President Obama in December to cochair a White House Task Force on 21st-Century Policing with Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey. Their goal is to come up with recommendations on how to build stronger collaborative relationships between communities and law enforcement. Hearings will be held across the country.

James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics, is editor in chief for Discoveries in Modern Science: Exploration, Invention, Technology, a three-volume set, published December 12, 2014.