So far 2008 has been a great year for UCLA professors: Two professors won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, the top national writing award, and six received 2008 Guggenheim fellowships, prestigious grants that allow researchers more freedom to work creatively on their projects.
For history Professor Saul Friedlander, winning the 2008 Pulitzer Prize is a way to mark the culmination of a project he has worked on for close to 20 years.
“I was completely surprised because the Holocaust is not a topic frequently given a Pulitzer. I am of course very pleased and honored,” Friedlander said.
His book, “The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945,” is the second volume he has written about Jews in Nazi Germany. The topic is very close to Friedlander since he was a Jewish boy living in France during the war.
Friedlander said it was not difficult writing about massive horrors since he has become desensitized to them over the course of his 40 year career, but specific stories still affect him.
“It’s the tiny details that put me off balance. I found a letter from a 17-year-old girl writing to her father that she was being deported but he shouldn’t worry. These stories still get to me,” Friedlander said.
Fellow Pulitzer Prize winner history Professor Daniel Howe said he hopes winning the prize for his book “What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848″ will help publicize his book.
“It’s the first book I’ve written for an audience that’s not purely academic. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but it’s great to get more publicity,” he said.
Howe’s book is one in a series that, when completed, will cover the entire history of the United States.
Though most history books focus either on politics and the military, or culture, social issues and economics, Howe said he wanted to focus on both types of history.
“I wanted to have a more comprehensive book, to show that history is made both from the top down and from the bottom up. Not many people do that,” he said.
Howe’s reexamination of traditional methods sets him apart from other historians. This ability to think innovatively is an important quality that the Guggenheim Foundation looks for when choosing fellows.
Out of more than 2,600 applications, 190 fellowships totalling $8.2 million were given to American and Canadian artists, scientists and scholars.
“It’s quite a nice piece of fortuity,” said law Professor Katherine Stone, one of the Guggenheim recipients. “I’m impressed that so many UCLA professors received fellowships.”
UCLA was one of few universities to receive several fellowships.
Stone said she will use the grant to examine the changing nature of work forces in Japan, Australia and parts of Europe. She will look at the changes in labor and employment laws in these countries and their effects on employees, and she hopes to turn it into a book.
Geography Professor Glen MacDonald will use the grant to travel to the U.S. Southwest, Mexico, Egypt, Syria, Israel and India to conduct field visits and interview policy makers, water resource professionals and scientists to write a book on the vulnerability of these regions to increased aridity over the 21st century.
Marc Suchard, an assistant professor of biomathematics, biostatistics and human genetics, will use the grant to examine basic problems in reconstructing evolution. He will construct better mathematical tools to understand the evolution of diseases such as influenza and HIV.
“I was extraordinarily surprised,” Suchard said. “It’s fantastic they want to support basic mathematical research. I’m thrilled that the grant allows me to free up time to spend on my research.”
Professor of urban planning Susanna Hecht will use the grant to study the Amazonian forest. She will use mapping history and sensing techniques to examine the impact of deforestation in the Amazon.
Sociology Professor Roger Waldinger will continue his study of international migration to the U.S. and will complete a book about American immigrants.
Mathematics Professor Chandrashekhar Khare will use the grant to continue his study of number theory, particularly Galois theory, the study of symmetries of polynomial equations.
“The grant will allow me to travel and spend more time with my collaborators in other countries,” Khare said. “I’m very grateful. It’s a tremendous honor.”