Gantt Medal recipient
University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Stephen Maren, has been awarded a prestigious medal for his work in learning and memory.
University Distinguished Professor of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Stephen Maren, has been awarded a prestigious medal for his work in learning and memory.
Maren was recently awarded the 2019 Gantt Medal from the Pavlovian Society on Oct. 5, 2019. According to the Pavlovian Society website, this annual award is given to individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the fields of psychology, physiology, behavioral neuroscience, psychophysiology, mental health, or medicine within the confines of Pavlovian conceptual models, or who have contributed significantly to the functioning of the Society. The Society is named after Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist known primarily for his work in classical conditioning.
“It is an honor to receive this award and to be the youngest awardee in the medal’s history,” said Maren, who also served as the Society’s president from 2013 to 2014.
The Gantt Medal has been awarded to lofty scientists working in learning and memory, including four national academy members – Joseph LeDoux, Richard Thompson, Allan Wagner, and Robert Rescorla. This remarks on the prestige and exceptional work that Maren has done in neuroscience.
W. Horsley Gantt, who founded the Pavlovian Society in 1955, established one of the first Pavlovian laboratories in the U.S. at Johns Hopkins in 1929 after four years of study with Ivan Pavlov in St. Petersburg. When Gantt passed away in 1980, the year the Gantt Medal was established, he was only one of two surviving Pavlov students.
The current president of the Society, Catharine Rankin, presented Maren the award at the Society’s annual meeting from October 3-6 in Vancouver, Canada. It is a high recognition that should be celebrated.