Dean Ball, Dr. Ratner Honored as AAAS 2014 Fellows

Dr. Gregory F. Ball, Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) and Professor in the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Nan Bernstein Ratner, Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Dean Ball was recognized for his contributions in the field ofbiological sciences, and Dr. Ratner was recognized for her contributions in the field of psychology. The BSOS community warmly congratulates Dean Ball and Dr. Ratner on this well-deserved recognition.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1398","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 5px; float: left;","width":"320"}}]]"I am very pleased and honored to be named a Fellow of AAAS. It is gratifying to receive recognition from one’s colleagues. I am especially delighted that Professor Nan Ratner has been named as well. It is great that BSOS has two of the four faculty members elected from UMCP this year. This highlights the fact that BSOS really is an integral part of the STEM endeavor at the University of Maryland."

This year, six of the 401 members who have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications hail from the University of Maryland. New Fellows will be recognized at a ceremony in February at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif. They also will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by such an important and respected organization that works so diligently in its efforts to encourage science ‘in the public interest,’ to support and attract students to careers in science, and to translate critical scientific discoveries for the general public,” Dr. Ratner said.

In October, Dean Ball joined the College after serving as Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Vice Dean for Science and Research Infrastructure in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

His lab work, which he began at JHU and plans to continue at Maryland, focuses on how hormones influence the brain and consequently behavior, as well as how external natural forces regulate hormones, which, in turn, leads to changes in behavior. “For example, I study the phenomenon of the seasonal changes in brain and behavior of songbirds. In the springtime, their behavioral patterns change markedly as compared to their winter behavior—essentially, they go through a dramatic change in endocrine physiology every spring that is akin to re-experiencing puberty. These endocrine changes induce a remarkable process of neuroplasticity that includes the incorporation of new neurons into defined neural circuits,” he said. “It is fascinating how the social environment interacts with changes in endogenous endocrine physiology to impact brain function.”

Dean Ball holds a B.A. in psychology from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in psychobiology from the Institute of Animal Behavior at Rutgers University. He completed his postdoctoral work in Comparative Neuroendocrinology and Ethology at Rockefeller University

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"1404","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; float: left; margin: 5px;"}}]]Dr. Ratner’s research interests cross a number of areas, including typical speech and language development in infants and children; childhood communication disorders; the role of parents in language development; typical fluency and fluency disorders, such as stuttering; and the roles of evidence-based practice and information literacy in the conduct of speech-language pathology. She was recognized for her work in the psychology of language learning in typically-developing and communication disordered children.

Dr. Ratner has also served as the liaison to AAAS from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, and has coordinated yearly sessions at its annual meeting that highlight and increase public awareness of recent developments in research that addresses the causes and treatment of a wide array of communication disorders, from stuttering, to stroke, to this year’s topic, brain stem implants for deaf infants who are not eligible for cochlear implants.

Dr. Ratner holds a B.A. in child study with a minor in linguistics from Tufts University, an M.A. in speech-language pathology from Temple University, and her doctorate in applied psycholinguistics from Boston University.

Recently, Dr. Ratner was the recipient of another mark of great distinction as she received Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). This award recognizes members of ASHA for their distinguished contribution to the field of speech, language and hearing sciences and disorders, and is the highest honor that the association bestows. Professor Ratner also has been named president elect of the International Fluency Association.

To learn more about BSOS’s faculty, projects and initiatives and ties to STEM education and research, read the Social STEM brochure.

Published on Mon, Nov 24, 2014 - 11:09AM