Vanderbilt University’s most prestigious faculty honor for accomplishments in research, scholarship or creative expression was awarded to Kathleen Gould, PhD, during the Fall Faculty Assembly Aug. 23.
Gould, the Louise B. McGavock professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and associate dean for Biomedical Sciences, received the Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research.
Gould’s research focuses on the division of cells, the fundamental unit of all living things. She is one of the world’s foremost scientists working on the last step in cell division — the separation of cells. When this process goes wrong, cells die or cancer occurs.
“Without any doubt, Kathy is a superstar — brilliant scholar, extraordinary teacher, outstanding institutional citizen,” Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said.
Ian Macara, PhD, Louise B. McGavock Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and chair of the department, accepted the award on her behalf at the Student Life Center ceremony.
Gould’s research has led to the publication of more than 130 peer-reviewed papers, numerous works placed in top-ranked journals, and many honors and awards. In 1992 she won the prestigious Searle Scholar Award, only the sixth Vanderbilt faculty member to have received this honor in its 36-year history.
She was awarded the Boehringer Ingelheim New Investigator Award in 1992, elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and appointed as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a position she held for 19 years.
At Vanderbilt, Gould has won the John H. Exton Award for research and an Excellence in Teaching award. She has given scores of talks at institutions and conferences around the world, and her research work has appeared in multiple top-ranked journals, including Developmental Cell, ELife, PNAS, J Cell Biol and Genes & Development. She was named Vanderbilt’s SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2018.
The Sutherland Prize includes a cash award of $10,000 and an engraved pewter julep cup. In addition, Gould’s name will be engraved alongside past Sutherland Prize winners on a silver bowl that she will possess for one year.
Gould was one of 10 award recipients during the Fall Faculty Assembly. The others were Brian Heuser, EdD, MTS; Jessica Kennedy, PhD; Herbert Marbury, PhD, MDiv, MA; Clare McCabe, PhD; Douglas Shadle, PhD, MA; Steven Townsend, PhD; Michael Vandenbergh, JD; Jonathan Gilligan, PhD; and Colin Walsh, MD, MA. Members of the faculty with 25 consecutive years of service also were recognized and will receive a chair with the Vanderbilt logo and a brass plate engraved with their name.
