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.
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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.