Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award

This award is presented to a full-time faculty member to honor outstanding research and creative activity of national and international significance. The president and the provost determine the recipients on the basis of a faculty committee report on nominations received.

2020 Honorees

Olga Vitek

Professor of Computer Sciences and Director of the MS in Data Science Program

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Olga Vitek

Professor of Computer Sciences and Director of the MS in Data Science Program

Professor Vitek is an interdisciplinary, world-class researcher and a renowned leader in data science, machine learning, and computational biology. An outstanding teacher and role model for young scientists, she has made it her mission to bridge the communications gap between life scientists and computational scientists. She is best known for the development of algorithms and tools for the analysis and interpretation of mass spectrometry data that involves identifying and quantifying proteins in complex biological samples, such as tissues or fluids. In 2019, Professor Vitek published 11 papers about computational and life sciences, on topics that include machine learning, programming languages and human-computer interaction, and computational and experimental biology. That same year, she was also the lead faculty organizer behind the May Institute, an annual event limited to about 100 applicants worldwide who come to Boston each spring to attend two-week courses and lectures on computation and statistics in mass spectrometry and proteomics. The event not only translates research into education, but also increases Northeastern’s visibility in this competitive field.

Sonia Rolland

Professor of Law and Faculty Director, LLM and International Programs

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Sonia Rolland

Professor of Law and Faculty Director, LLM and International Programs

Professor Rolland’s writings focus on the legal framework for sustainable and socioeconomic development in international economic law. After publishing the acclaimed Development at the WTO, which was reviewed in three prestigious journals, she co-authored Emerging Powers in the International Economic Order. The book explores legal developments in the trade and investment realms coming from emerging countries and regional groups such as the Asia‐Pacific Economic Forum, the African Union, and Latin American integration projects. By shedding light on what developing countries are doing, she hopes to show that there are ways to reduce conflict and strengthen ties in international economic relations. Professor Rolland’s scholarship seeks theoretically rich answers to real‐world problems. This approach is embedded in her methodology: research supplemented by discussions with trade practitioners, diplomats involved in negotiations, and other stakeholders. She has been invited to address the United Nations as part of an initiative on sovereign debt restructuring and has worked with the director of the G‐24.