Okin honored with Cox Medal

Susan Okin, the Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society, has been awarded the 2002 Allan V. Cox Medal for Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research.

Okin was unable to attend a ceremony sponsored by the Undergraduate Research Programs office Saturday at which the honor was announced by Sharon Long, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Okin was recognized for "her thoughtful character, approachable nature, respect for and dedicated attention to her students (even when it means learning material along with them); her challenging questions, theoretical rigor and personal support which inspire students to produce creative and conscientious scholarship; balancing free-flowing encouragement with careful criticism as she guides students to translate intellectual passion into methodologically sound, reality-grounded and well-argued theses; and her wisdom and interdisciplinary strength as a teacher and mentor of prize-winning students in Ethics in Society, Feminist Studies, International Relations and Political Science."

Okin, a native of New Zealand, is a leading political theorist in feminist studies. Her work focuses on concerns about the nature of justice, the central issue in contemporary ethical discussions, and the role of women in contemporary society. Her first major book, Women in Western Political Thought, was a pioneering work now considered a cornerstone of research on women in politics. Her second book, Justice, Gender and the Family, challenges prevailing conceptions of justice that relegate questions about the role of women to a private sphere. According to Okin, general standards of justice must be applied equally to the family, and existing gendered roles must be altered to provide greater equality to women.

The Cox Medal is awarded annually to the faculty member who has established a record of excellence directing undergraduate research over a number of years. It also may go to a faculty member who has done an especially outstanding job with just one or two undergraduates whose work is unusually superior.

The award was established in memory of Allan Cox, a professor of geophysics and dean of the School of Earth Sciences and early advocate of university funding of undergraduate research.