Three University Researchers Win $25,000 Fellowships

Three Harvard professors are among the 90 recipients of this year's Sloan Foundation Research Fellowships, which are awarded to young faculty members who show promise in their fields.

Assistant Professors Steven A. Benner (Chemistry), Paul T.P. Ho (Astronomy), and William D. Matthew (Neurobiology) will each receive $25,000. The Sloan fellowships have been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 and are given in five areas Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics, Neurobiology, and Physics.

An administrative assistant at the foundation explained that the institution grants fellowships to young professors--at the time of their nomination they can be no older than 32 because it feels that funding at this time of life is especially important.

The fellowship "is an honor, but for junior faculty the money is the most useful part because it gets the research going," agreed Ho.

"The foundation does not require candidates to submit descriptions of their projects; it only looks for evidence of exceptional creativity and promise," the assistant said. As a result winners have greater freedom in pursuing their work.

Each of the Harvard winners said they would use the award to pay various research expenses.

Research

Matthew explained he will use the money to continue current research "concerned with cell surface molecules and the role they play in developing the nervous system." He has discovered an antibody that inhibits neuron growth and will use it in his study of nerve regeneration.

Ho stated that his research involves lots of travelling and computing, for which the money will certainly be helpful. Benner will use the award to defray research costs in his work with gene synthesis.