Honorary Degrees
J. Anthony Tyson, Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Bell Laboratories.
Presentation by Richard G. Kron, Professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the College; Director of Yerkes Observatory. J. Anthony Tyson, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff of Bell Laboratories, has made brilliant contributions to the field of observational cosmology. Research teams around the world, using the most powerful telescopes in existence, depend on techniques that he developed. Observational astronomers continue to compare their results with his earlier benchmarks. Galaxies that are billions of light years away are seen as they were billions of years ago. By detecting galaxies extremely remote in space and time, Tyson has enabled astronomers to witness the birth of the first generation of stars. His direct demonstration of the evolution of galaxies helped realize a principal goal of astrophysics: the detailed description of the origins of large-scale structures, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Measuring the distribution of dark matter on cosmic scales is also critical to this endeavor because dark matter shapes these large-scale structures. Dark matter can be traced by considering how it bends light rays arriving from more distant galaxies. Tyson pioneered the detection of this very small but significant effect, and thus established a technique that is rapidly becoming one of the key empirical tools of cosmology. Tyson tackles problems at the heart of astrophysics with exceptional innovation and physical insight. His continuing contributions to the field of observational cosmology have left an indelible mark on the study of the distant Universe.
Harrison Colyar White, Giddings Professor of Sociology, Columbia University.
Presentation by Andrew Abbott, the Ralph Lewis Professor in the Department of Sociology and the College. Harrison Colyar White, Giddings Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, has transformed much of sociology over the course of his career. His work on constrained mobility has forced a complete overhaul of the literature on occupational and status attachment. His studies of the arts have demonstrated the intimate connection of art markets with art styles and career patterns. His theoretical concept of “structural equivalence” completely recast the concept of social networks then current in the literature, sending the analysis of such networks in fundamentally new directions and, indeed, founding the modern field of network analysis. Professor White’s creativity has been a beacon to his discipline. He has invented methods, concepts, indeed whole forms of analysis, with restless energy. His most recent work finds him revisiting his analyses of markets while simultaneously advancing into linguistics and other forms of cultural analysis. In his wake has come an extraordinary generation of students and colleagues, following but never catching their even more extraordinary master. Professor White is indeed an ornament to scholarly life in the social sciences.
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