Early-career faculty honored for scholarly achievements

Four junior faculty members in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) have been honored for scholarly achievements in their respective fields.

Jill Jarvis, an assistant professor of French, received The Samuel ’60 and Ronnie ’72 Heyman Prize, which recognizes outstanding scholarship in the humanities. Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences; Zhou Fan, assistant professor of statistics and data science; and Juan Lora, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences, each received The Arthur Greer Memorial Prize, which honors work in the social or natural sciences.

“I am thrilled to recognize and celebrate Jill Jarvis, Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, Zhou Fan, and Juan Lora for their groundbreaking work,” said Kathryn Lofton, interim dean of FAS and the FAS dean of humanities. “The achievements of these exceptional junior colleagues reflect the breadth of the outstanding scholarship taking place across the FAS. It is a privilege to be part of this community of scholars.”

In a message to the community, Lofton described the accomplishments of each winner:

Samuel ’60 and Ronnie ’72 Heyman Prize

The prize recognizes outstanding scholarly publications or research by a ladder faculty member in the humanities who is untenured at the time that the work is completed or published.

Jill Jarvis, Department of French
“Jarvis was awarded the Heyman prize in recognition of her pathbreaking book, ‘Decolonizing Memory: Algeria and the Politics of Testimony’. Jarvis is a scholar of the aesthetic, intellectual, and literary networks that cross the African Sahara. In ‘Decolonizing Memory,’ she reveals how Algerian literatures in Arabic and French rewrite history, challenge state authority, and constitute a multi-lingual, decolonial archive.”

Arthur Greer Memorial Prize

The Arthur Greer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research recognizes outstanding research conducted by ladder faculty members in the social or natural sciences, broadly construed, who are untenured at the time that the work is completed or published.

Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; curator of vertebrate paleontology and vertebrate zoology, Yale Peabody Museum
“Bhullar was awarded the Greer Prize in recognition of his innovative research on the history of vertebrate life. Applying techniques from molecular and functional biology and collecting fossils from sites around the world, Bhullar has made discoveries that expand and advance new understandings of the fossil record. This work has illuminated pivotal events in evolutionary history and the way in which life on our planet has developed and changed.”

 Zhou Fan, Department of Statistics and Data Science
“Fan was awarded the Greer prize in recognition of groundbreaking research that draws on methods from mathematical statistics, probability theory, and computational algorithms, with applications in genetics and computational biology. His expertise lies in random matrix theory, high dimensional and multivariate statistics, random graphs and networks, and discrete algorithms, and he has introduced advances in statistical theory and methodology.”

Juan Lora, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
“Lora was awarded the Greer prize in recognition of his innovative work on planetary climates. Lora’s research group seeks to understand the nature of atmospheres on terrestrial bodies in the solar system, including Earth. His recent work has illuminated the workings of the methane cycle in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan, and has shown how past and ongoing climate changes affect Earth’s water cycle, with implications for understanding the consequences of anthropogenic climate change.”