On April 5, Fordham University honored five distinguished faculty members for their achievements in securing externally funded research grants at the inaugural Sponsored Research Day on the Rose Hill Campus. Fordham Law Professor Jennifer Gordon was recognized for her interdisciplinary research.
With grants from the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundation, Gordon pursued a three-year initiative to combat abuse and trafficking of Mexican migrant workers recruited to work in the United States. Partnering with the Mexican human rights organization ProDESC, she has developed a transnational pilot program set to launch this year to implement recommendations that have arisen from her research.
“The Law School is delighted that the University honored Professor Gordon’s work with this award,” said Fordham Law Dean Matthew Diller. “Her groundbreaking research embodies the value of service to others, and her deep curiosity about the world and her desire to improve it inspires all of us in the Law School community.”
The University Research Council presented the Outstanding Externally Funded Research Awards (OEFRA) to recognize the high quality and impact of sponsored research within the last three years and its enhancement of Fordham’s reputation—both nationally and globally.
Additional awardees were Silvia C. Finnemann, professor of biology; Celia B. Fisher, The Marie Ward Doty University Chair in Ethics and professor of psychology; Stephen R. Grimm, professor of philosophy; and Marc N. Conte, assistant professor of economics
Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, lauded the honorees for the fearless inquiry of their academic research, particularly at a time when truth and wisdom are being devalued in our society.
“Research is at the center of the academic enterprise,” he said, “enriching not only the Fordham community, but the community of the United States and of the world.”
Sponsored by the Bronx Science Consortium, the daylong event also included grant education workshops, a forum of university researchers, and a keynote address by Dr. Walter L. Goldschmidts, Ph.D., vice president and executive director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.