Jeffrey D. Blaustein and Nilanjana Dasgupta, both from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Andrea R. Nahmod, Mathematics and Statistics are three of eight nationally acclaimed faculty members presented with the 2016 Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity during the Twelfth Annual Faculty Convocation on September 30.

Jeffrey D. Blaustein​

Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Widely recognized as an expert on the influences of hormones on the brain, Jeffrey D. Blaustein has spent nearly his entire career at UMass Amherst. He studies the cellular processes by which estrogens and progestins act in the brain to influence behavior, mental health, and cognitive function. Blaustein is currently developing tools to help better explain to oncologists and breast cancer survivors the important role that estrogens play in the brain, so that patients can make informed decisions about breast cancer treatments that block estrogens.

Blaustein has served as president of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology and during the past few years, has been invited to give keynote and plenary addresses in Chile, Mexico, Italy, and Miami. He has contributed numerous chapters to major compilations and articles to major journals. Blaustein served a five-year term as editor-in-chief of Endocrinology, the journal of the Endocrine Society, and was chosen by the Society for Neuroscience to be a reviewing editor of eNeuro, its new open-access journal.

Blaustein has also served on the editorial boards of all the major journals in his field and on numerous grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health. He was recently asked to write a blog for the American Cancer Society on the effects of hormones and antihormone treatments in breast cancer survivors.

Education: BS, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1973; MS, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1975; PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1977.

​Nilanjana Dasgupta

​Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

A professor and the director of faculty equity and inclusion for the College of Natural Sciences, Nilanjana Dasgupta conducts seminal research on implicit bias, translating scientific research to inform such social problems as bias against racial and ethnic minorities, lesbians and gay men, employment discrimination, educational disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and the professional underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in STEM fields. She has twice been invited to the White House to present her findings on STEM education. During her recent distinguished lecture at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Va., Dasgupta spoke of how to prevent girls and young women from leaving careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Since the beginning of her career, Dasgupta’s research has been funded by the NSF and the National Institutes of Health, amounting to approximately $4 million in grant support to date. Her research findings have been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, BBC Radio (U.K.), National Public Radio, PBS News Hour, Scientific American Mind, Slate.com, ABC News, and many other popular news outlets.

Dasgupta has held leadership positions in several international societies in social psychology and is the 2017 incoming president of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology. She also serves on the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.

Education: AB, Smith College, 1992; MS, Yale University, 1994; MPhil, Yale University, 1996; PhD, Yale University, 1998.

For more information on the Twelfth Annual Faculty Convocation award recipients, visit umass.edu/convocation/2016-award-recipients.