Researchers named Distinguished University Professors

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State has bestowed its highest faculty honor, designation as a Distinguished University Professor, upon three researchers who have earned international acclaim for their scholarship. The 2003 honorees are Kevin R. Cox, professor of geography, Eric Herbst, professor of physics, astronomy and chemistry, and Brian D. Joseph, professor of linguistics and holder of the Kenneth E. Naylor Professorship in Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures.

At the university’s Board of Trustees meeting Friday (5/30), Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray granted each recipient the title and an annual budget of $10,000 for three years to support their academic work. They also automatically become members of the President’s and Provost’s Advisory Council. Up to three faculty may be given the title of Distinguished University Professor each year and, counting this year’s recipients, only 29 professors have received the title since it was first awarded in 1987.

Distinguished University Professors continue their regular program of teaching, scholarly or creative work and service. They are nominated by their colleagues both at Ohio State and internationally. Evaluators from outside the university are invited to assess the quality and significance of each nominee’s academic accomplishments.

KEVIN R. COX
Department of Geography

Kevin R. Cox received his bachelor’s degree from Cambridge University and a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Illinois. He joined Ohio State’s faculty in the Department of Geography in 1965. Colleagues credit him as being pivotal to the department’s rise to one of the top five departments of geography in the United States.

Cox is an internationally recognized scholar in three distinct areas: the geography of voting, behavioral geography, and the politics of urbanization and local-global influences. His scholarship spans issues not only of geography but also of political science and sociology.
Under his leadership, the undergraduate geography curriculum was revised, new courses were added, and student services were revitalized, leading to a quadrupling of highly qualified undergraduate geography majors.

He has authored, co-authored or edited 10 books; more than 70 articles in prestigious journals; some 30 book reviews, as well as several other editorials, and research and government reports.
Two more books are set for publication next year. The National Science Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation have provided major portions of external funding for his research.

He has served on numerous editorial boards, including the discipline’s flagship journal, The Annals of the Association of American Geographers. In addition, he has received prestigious recognitions including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Honors Award of the Association of American Geographers, and Ohio State’s Distinguished Scholar Award. His service has included the university’s post-doctoral fellowship committee; the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ curriculum committee; and in the Department of Geography as chair of the curriculum committee.

ERIC HERBST
Department of Physics
Department of Astronomy
Department of Chemistry

Eric Herbst received his A. B. in chemistry from the University of Rochester and his master’s and doctorate from Harvard University. He joined Ohio State’s faculty in 1991 and is a professor in the departments of Physics, Astronomy, and Chemistry.

Herbst is internationally regarded as a pioneer and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of molecular astrophysics. In 1973, he and William Klemperer wrote “The Formation and Depletion of Molecules in Dense Interstellar Clouds,” a seminal paper credited with starting the field of molecular astronomy.

To date, he has published more than 240 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has conducted a significant amount of collaborative research with another Distinguished University Professor, Frank De Lucia, in the area of molecular spectroscopy.
Herbst’s research has been consistently well funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

His research spans physics, astronomy and chemistry, and, during the course of his career, he has taught basic and advanced courses in the three departments. He has been recognized with the Alfred Sloan Foundation Award, the Max Planck Research Prize, Ohio State’s Distinguished Scholar Award, and twice with awards for graduate teaching, among other honors. In addition, he currently serves as a science editor for the prestigious Astrophysical Journal. He also has served on numerous departmental committees, the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences’ promotion and tenure committee, and the university’s selection committee for the Distinguished Scholar Award.

BRIAN D. JOSEPH
Department of Linguistics
Kenneth E. Naylor Professorship,
Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures

Brian D. Joseph earned his A. B. from Yale University and his master’s degree and doctorate in linguistics from Harvard University. He joined Ohio State’s faculty in the Department of Linguistics in 1979 and received a joint appointment in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures in 1997, where he holds the Kenneth E. Naylor Professorship.

Joseph is an internationally recognized scholar in Greek and Balkan linguistics. During his tenure as chair of the Department of Linguistics from 1987 to 1997, the department rose to eighth place among this nation’s linguistics programs in the National Research Council ratings.

Joseph has given more than 60 presentations as an invited speaker, authored or co-authored five books, co-edited seven books, written more than 160 articles and book chapters, and edited or co-edited seven journal volumes. He has served as editor or on the editorial board of several journals and is currently the editor of Language, the Linguistic Society of America’s international journal.

He has taught virtually every course in the Department of Linguistics. In addition to the College of Humanities’ Exemplary Faculty Award, he is the recipient of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Distinguished Scholar Award, and the Faculty Award for University Service. His university service has included the selection committee for Distinguished University Professors, the provost’s committee for review of Selective Investment proposals, chair of the College of Humanities’ affirmative action advisory committee, and the Department of Linguistics’ promotion and tenure committee.