Brown University announced on April 14 that two of its faculty members, Ieva Jusionyte and Matthew Kraft, have been awarded fellowships by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The fellowships will support their ongoing research in international security, anthropology, education, and economics.
The selection of Jusionyte and Kraft highlights the recognition of academic excellence at Brown. They are among 223 recipients chosen from nearly 5,000 applicants across ten countries this year.
Kraft said, “I was shocked and so honored to be among a group that includes artists and authors that I’ve admired all my life.” Jusionyte also expressed gratitude: “This has been an extraordinary year for me, and I am deeply grateful to the people who believed in my work and wrote the letters of recommendation on my behalf. I am humbled and honored to receive the Guggenheim fellowship and join such an incredible community of scholars and artists whose work I admire.”
Jusionyte plans to use her award stipend to continue research for her next book about extraditing organized crime leaders from Mexico and other Latin American countries to the United States. She said her project aims “to understand what impact extraditions of organized crime members from Mexico to the U.S. and prosecuting them in our courts have on justice on both sides of the border.” Jusionyte is also director of Brown’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs.
Kraft intends to use his fellowship period focusing on revitalizing K-12 teaching in America. “I aim to use this time to think deeply about what it would take to revitalize the K-12 teaching profession in the United States,” Kraft said. He added that his goal is “to develop an evidence-based blueprint to elevate teaching to be among the most prestigious and sought after careers students consider for their future.” At Brown, he leads the Sustainable Education Research Initiative.
Both professors emphasized how support from colleagues contributed significantly toward earning these awards. As Kraft concluded: “This award was made possible by the many amazing educators and mentors in my life who have pushed my thinking and inspired me to never stop learning.”
