Awards

William Massey, the Edwin Wiley Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University, was named the winner of the Blackwell-Tapia Prize. The prize, bestowed every other year, honors mathematical scientists who have made significant contributions to their field and have served as role models to students from minority groups.

The award will be presented at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications in Minneapolis this coming November.

Ken R. Harewood, professor and director of the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute at North Carolina Central University, received the O. Max Gardner Award from the board of governors of the University of North Carolina. Professor Harewood was honored for his research on racial disparities in health care and for his work to increase the number of black and minority students pursuing careers in the natural sciences.

Professor Harewood is a graduate of New York University. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the City University of New York.

Philip Simmons, who received no formal education after the sixth grade, received an honorary doctorate from South Carolina State University. As a young man, Simmons, now 92 years old, worked as a blacksmith shoeing horses. He later turned his attention to making ornamental gates and other iron adornments for homes, parks, and businesses. These works of art can be seen throughout Charleston and other South Carolina cities.