Six Hopkins-affiliated professors were awarded Guggenheim grants this week, the largest number of awardees in a single year in the University's history. Hopefully, the successes of these six Hopkins scholars signal a rising trend for external grants for University-affiliated professors. The awards - most of which were granted for humanities or social science research - signify that Hopkins is continuing to improve its reputation as a well-rounded institution.
The Guggenheim awards exist so that the recipients can pursue specialized research projects. For instance, SAIS professor of American foreign policy Piero Gleijeses plans to examine "Cuban and U.S. policy toward Southern Africa in the Carter and Reagan years." Such projects often involve travel and lodging expenses in foreign countries. The awards will cover such expenses and will serve to supplement the financial support Hopkins professors already receive from the University.
Sabbaticals and academic travel can be expensive for individual departments to sponsor. Awards such as the Guggenheim enhance the faculty's ability to conduct meaningful research and write about their findings. In fact, four of the six awardees from Hopkins plan to use the grant to write a book.
Hopkins' success with the humanities-focused Guggenheim awards will help boost the University's improving reputation in the humanities and social sciences. This banner year will help attract more interest in Hopkins from prospective undergraduates, graduate students and faculty alike.
We congratulate professors M. Gregg Bloche, Andrew Cherlin, Eckart Forster, Piero Gleijeses, Guohua Li and Christopher Sogge on their success.
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