Thursday, April 5, 2012

Prof. Sherwood receives Trachtenberg Scholarship Prize

Prof. Chet Sherwood has been awarded the 2012 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Faculty Prize for Scholarship in recognition of his extraordinary record of research and publication.

Chet directs the Laboratory for Evolutionary Neuroanatomy, which is dedicated to research on the evolution of brain structure in primates and other mammals. One of only a small number of laboratories in the world to directly investigate brain evolution in mammals, the laboratory uses high-powered tools to collect information on the variations in the brain architecture in mammals.

Work in the laboratory has resulted in many publications. "Aging of the cerebral cortex differs between humans and chimpanzees," a recent article co-written by Chet in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described how human brains deteriorate with age in ways chimp brains do not.

Chet's publication record is impressive -- 57 journal articles, proceedings papers, and book chapters since he received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 2003. They are also frequently cited by other scholars. Chet does a lot of interdisciplinary research with GW colleagues such as Tadeusz Zawidzki (Philosophy), Francys Subiaul (Speech and Hearing Science), and Lawrence Rothblat (Psychology), and with both graduate and undergraduate students.

Chet is the fourth member of the Anthropology Department to be honored with the Trachtenberg Scholarship Prize: Alison Brooks in 1994, Eric Cline in 2011, and Bernard Wood in 2003. Former GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg created the prizes in the early 1990s in memory of his parents. Each of the awards comes with a cash prize and the recipients are honored at the university-wide Commencement.

No comments: