Charles Pence and Grace Deardurff have been awarded the 2012 Sloan prizes by the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. The Sloan Prize is awarded each year to one graduate student who embodies Reilly Fellow and History and Philosophy of Science professor Phillip Sloan's commitment to scholarship and to one undergraduate student who in some special way embodies the mission and core values of the Reilly Center. Each student will receive a $500 award.
Pence is a Ph.D. candidate in the Reilly Center’s History and Philosophy of Science Ph.D program. He works primarily in the philosophy and history of evolutionary biology and is writing a dissertation entitled Concepts and Uses of Chance in Evolutionary Theory with Professor Grant Ramsey. Pence has also been the recipient of the Lilly Presidential Graduate Fellowship, multiple grants for research and travel related to both his dissertation research and his interest in the digital humanities, and prizes for his blending of the two. He was nominated for the Sloan prize based on both his scholarly achievements and his dedication to the life of the History and Philosophy of Science Ph.D. program. To learn more about Charles Pence, see his website at charlespence.net.
Grace Deardurff is a junior Pre-Med and Theology double major and Science, Technology, and Values minor. She was a Kellogg Institute International Scholar for the 2011-2012 school year and researched the practice of medicine and cultural perceptions of illness in Veracruz, Mexico with Anthropology professor Vania Smith-Oka. Deardurff has been awarded an Experiencing The World (ETW) Fellowship from the Kellogg for the summer of 2012 to work on a project entitled “Religious Women in San José: A Force of Human Development,” which will explore the role of religious sisters through their work in medicine, education, and immigration rights in San José, Costa Rica.
Phillip Sloan is a Reilly Faculty Fellow, and an emeritus Professor in the History and Philosophy of Science Ph.D. program, the Department of History, and the Program in Liberal Studies. He served as Director of the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values from 1997-1999, an important period in its history, overseeing significant growth in programs and activities. He also served as Director of the Ph.D. program in the History and Philosophy of Science from 1994-1997, and has been a leader and supporter of the undergraduate minor in Science, Technology, and Values, a program that continues to reflect his vision for and commitment to undergraduate education.