University of Michigan alumna and Helen Zell Writers’ Program Assistant Director Airea D. Matthews has received a 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, which is given annually to six women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers. Celebrating its 22nd year, the Rona Jaffe Awards have helped many women build successful writing careers by offering encouragement and financial support at a critical time. The awards are $30,000 each and were presented Sept. 15 in New York City. Matthews’ first collection of poems, simulacra, received the 2016 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award (Yale University Press, 2017). Matthews is working on her second collection, which explores the theme of poverty. She will use her Writer’s Award to take a leave from work so she can work on her new manuscript full time. She lives in Detroit with her husband and four children.
Mark Moldwin, associate chair and professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the College of Engineering, is the recipient of the 2016 Waldo E. Smith Union Award. The award, presented by the American Geophysical Union, is given in even-numbered years to one honoree in recognition for “extraordinary service to geophysics.” The award was originally established in 1982 as the Waldo E. Smith Medal, named in honor of Waldo E. Smith, whose dutiful efforts and service developed AGU into a vibrant, growing organization. It honors individuals who have played unique leadership roles in such diverse areas as scientific associations, education, legislation, research, public understanding of science, management and philanthropy, and whose accomplishments have greatly strengthened and helped advance the geophysical sciences.
