The Cognitive & Information Sciences Department at the University of California, Merced, is pleased to announce that the 15th recipient of the Distinguished Cognitive Scientist Award is Professor Morten Christiansen (Cornell University & Aarhus University).
Professor Christiansen has transformed the understanding of how environmental and biological influences interact to shape language evolution, language learning, and real-time language processing. His research — including neuroimaging and behavioral experiments, computational simulations, and corpus analyses — has dramatically reshaped the landscape of the traditional debate over nature vs. nurture.
This award is given annually by UC Merced's Cognitive & Information Sciences Department to an individual who has contributed influential and groundbreaking work to the cognitive sciences. Initiated by a gift from Robert Glushko and Pamela Samuelson, the award's previous recipients include George Lakoff (2008), Linda Smith (2009), Patricia Churchland (2011), Michael Turvey (2012), Mahzarin Banaji (2017), Lawrence Barsalou (2018), Colin Camerer (2019), and Melanie Mitchell (2022), among others who have made foundational contributions to our understanding of the mind.
Professor Christiansen will visit the UC Merced campus on Monday, October 14, to receive the award and deliver a public lecture open to all. Details to follow.
