Dartmouth alumna Terry Plank ’85 has been named one of 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2012. She is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
The fellowships, widely known as the “genius grants,” go to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” the MacArthur Foundation says. It describes Plank as a geochemist “working literally at the edge of phenomena shaping the Earth’s crust.”
The foundation announced the awards today, Tuesday, October 2, 2012.
At Dartmouth, Plank majored in earth sciences/geology and graduated summa cum laude with high honors. She played field hockey, participated in an earth sciences study abroad program, studied Spanish abroad, was a member of the camera club and Dartmouth Film Society, and joined Panarchy.
Dartmouth President Emeritus Jim Yong Kim was also a recipient of a MacArthur award. Kim, a public health physician who worked throughout the world on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, was a member of the 2003 MacArthur class of fellows.
Other MacArthur fellows from Dartmouth include Dartmouth Trustee Annette Gordon-Reed ’81, who was named a fellow in 2010 for her scholarship on Thomas Jefferson; Dartmouth Trustee John A. Rich ’80, who was named a fellow in 2006 for his work in public health; Anna Schuleit MALS ’05, who was named a MacArthur fellow in 2006 for her work as an artist; Jeffrey Weeks ’78, who was named a MacArthur fellow in mathematics in 1999; and Stuart Kauffman ’61, who was named a MacArthur fellow in 1987 for his work in ecology and evolution.
Additionally, the late Donella “Dana” Meadows, who was professor emeritus of environmental studies, received a MacArthur fellowship in 1994, in recognition of her work on conservation and the environment. Meadows, a Dartmouth professor for 29 years, died in 2001.
Read the full story, published 10/2/12 on the MacArthur Foundation website.
