New award honors outstanding ideas in psychology

The University of Louisville unveiled a new $200,000 award that honors cutting-edge work in psychology.

Beginning next year, the university will annually present the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology to an individual or group who has contributed an outstanding idea or creative work to the field.

The scope of the award is broad, said Joseph Aponte, PhD, director of the Psychology Grawemeyer Committee at the University of Louisville, who unveiled the award at APA's 1999 Annual Convention. Aponte said the university encourages nominations for a range of contributions--from books, journal articles and technological advances to software, research reports and conference presentations. The committee will judge submissions on originality, creativity, scientific merit and scope of potential applicability in the field of psychology. The university will award the $200,000 prize in five annual installments of $40,000, to be used however the winner chooses.

The establishment of the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology completes a set of five awards that philanthropist H. Charles Grawemeyer created in 1984.

Grawemeyer was a strong supporter of social sciences and the arts who died in 1993. The other four awards, established in the 1980s and 1990s, honor achievements in musical composition, religion, political science and education. Past recipients have included Mikhail S. Gorbachev and composer John Corigliano, who wrote the score for the movie, "The Red Violin."

To nominate an idea or achievement for the psychology award, submit a one- to two-page letter of nomination that includes the mailing address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the nominee or nominees. Self-nominations will be accepted. The university will send each nominee a form that explains the award. Each nominee must then submit a signed copy of the form, six copies of relevant publications or presentations of the idea or achievement and six copies of his or her curriculum vitae or resume. The deadline for nomination letters is Nov. 1. The deadline for submitting supporting materials is Dec. 1.

For more information on the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, contact Joseph R. Aponte, PhD, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, (502) 852-6775, fax: (502) 852-8904, e-mail: jfapon01@athena.louisville.edu, web site: www.grawemeyer.org.

--J. Chamberlin

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