Divisional Accolades

To date:

Twenty-seven Divisional faculty members have received the Nobel Prize, the most of any Division or school at the University of Chicago. Mostly recently, Prof. James A. Robinson (Harris/Political Science/Social Thought) was awarded the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Fifty-six current Division faculty have been named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, most recently Elisabeth Clemens (Sociology) and Alison LaCroix (History) in 2026.

Demonstrating the broad intellectual reach of the faculty of the Division, three (3) have received the National Medal of Science, six have received the National Humanities Medal, and one has received the National Medal of the Arts.

Six Divisional faculty members have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Division has celebrated the election of nine faculty members to the National Academy of Sciences - most recently Michael Greenstone in 2024 - and one to the National Academy of Medicine.

Social Sciences faculty have earned nine MacArthur Fellowships, most recently Tara Zahra in 2014.

Recent Highlights:

In 2026, Neil Brenner (Sociology) and Faith Hillis (History) each received a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Sarah Neuman (Anthropology) was awarded the 2026 Gordon J. Laing Prize by the University of Chicago Press for her book Unmaking Waste: New Histories of Old Things. 

Monica Rosenberg (Psychology) was awarded a 2026 Young Investigator Award by the Cognitive Neuroscience Society.

Ufuk Akcigit (Economics) was awarded the 2025 Rahmi M. Koç Medal of Science by Koç University.

Terra Edwards (Comparative Human Development) won the 2025 Innovation Award from the International Pragmatics Association

2025 Dean’s Early Career Research Awards recipient: Rochelle Terman, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Molly Offer-Westort (Political Science) was awarded a 2024 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.