Vanderbilt professors Dr. Kevian Stassun and Dr. Larry Bartels were recognized by President Joe Biden as recipients of the National Medal of Science at the White House on Jan. 3. Stassun, professor of physics and astronomy, was honored for his astrophysics research and work to support neurodivergent and minority students in science and engineering, while Bartels, professor of political science and law, received the award for his work on partisanship, voting behavior, economic inequality and political accountability.

The National Medal of Science award was implemented by Congress in 1959 and is awarded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The award is the nation’s highest honor for exemplary achievement and leadership in science and technology, according to a press release by The White House. 

Stassun and Bartels were two of 14 recipients of this award, and Vanderbilt was one of five universities to have more than one professor receive an award. At the ceremony, Biden expressed that recipients of this award inspire the next generation of leaders and tackle challenging problems by “pushing the boundaries of what is possible.” 

In a press release from the university, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier reflected on the contributions he believes Bartels and Stassun have made to advance scientific knowledge and innovation.

“[This award] is also a testament to the extraordinary talent in our community and to Vanderbilt’s steadfast dedication to fostering research and scholarship at the highest levels,” Diermeier said. “Professors Bartels and Stassun’s work has had a transformative impact on their fields.”

Stassun on his work with astrophysics and neurodiversity

Stassun received his undergraduate education from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed his PhD with the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was then a postdoctoral research fellow with NASA before joining Vanderbilt in 2003. He has received several other designations and awards — including the Stevenson Endowed Chair of Astrophysics, a Presidential Award from former President Obama, Mentor of the Year from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the MacArthur Fellow grant last year. 

Stassun shared his initial shock when he received the phone call saying he had received the award.

“Disbelief, honestly, was the immediate reaction. I mean, who wins the National Medal of Science? Because it’s not something you apply for, it’s not even something that you think about [receiving], so it just kind of drops on you,” Stassun said. 

Stassun is the founding co-director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program and the director of the First Center for Autism and Innovation in the Vanderbilt School of Engineering.​​ He has led several initiatives with the FCAI, including operating the College Autism Network — a national network of around 125 member colleges who are working to create programs that support autistic students on their respective campuses. FCAI is also working with labs around Vanderbilt to help autistic people become more independent before they join the workforce and is developing pipelines to employment for them with engineering firms like Boeing and Northrop Grumman. 

“The way that we’re [developing these opportunities] is by working directly with those companies so that their managers [and] hiring professionals learn about neurodiversity, how to be inclusive of neurodivergent people and how to better manage and support neurodivergent people,” Stassun said. 

Stassun said that receiving this award has affirmed how important the scientific research involved in this work is. 

“One major goal that I have professionally over the next five [to] ten years is to continue to learn how to better educate, train and support autistic students to participate in astrophysics research and other science and engineering work,” Stassun said.

Hari Srinivasan, a third-year PhD candidate, first met Stassun during his time as an undergrad at UCB, where Stassun spoke as a guest lecturer. Srinivasan, who has autism and ADHD, now  studies neuroscience with a focus on autism research at Vanderbilt. Srinivasan said he sees Stassun’s accomplishments as inspiring.

“His dedication to advancing not just science but also social progress, particularly through initiatives like FCAI, creates a ripple effect of positive change. It places autism in the forefront of conversations on campus and beyond,” Srinivasan said. “I’m deeply appreciative of him recruiting me to Vanderbilt and his continued mentorship and guidance, which has been a huge part of me ‘thriving’ in grad school, profoundly shaping both my academic and advocacy efforts in the autism space.”

Bartels on his work with parties, elections and public policy 

Bartels started his teaching career at the University of Rochester and then spent 20 years at Princeton University before coming to work at Vanderbilt in 2011. His research primarily focuses on public opinion, parties and elections, political representation and public policy in the U.S, but more recently, he has studied Europe and other affluent democracies. Bartels’ scholarly publications focus on developing statistical methods and testing mathematical theories of voting behavior.

Bartels said he learned a few months ago that he was on the National Medal of Science award recipient list because the White House wanted permission to conduct a background check. However, Bartels said that it was not clear until mid-December that the award ceremony would occur since he believes the administration has been attempting to accomplish as much as possible before the upcoming transition into president-elect Donald Trump’s presidency.

“President Trump didn’t award any science medals in his first term, and may not in the next four years, so my first thought was that this got fit in right under the wire,” Bartels said. “My second thought was that it would be good for political science to have someone on the list alongside the astronomers and biologists.”

Bartels said the university has been very supportive of his work and that the political science department has a very “stimulating and collegial” group of faculty and grad students who spend a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other. 

“[The department] has really helped me keep expanding my intellectual horizons, rather than simply studying the same narrow topics over and over,” Bartels said. 

In terms of his future career goals, Bartels said he is in the early stages of writing a book on the cross-national study of democracy, political representation and the welfare state. He is also finishing a book with Katherine Cramer, a colleague at the University of Wisconsin, on political change in the U.S. over the past 60 years. 

“[The book] is largely based on a study of people who graduated from high school in 1965, tracking their political attitudes and experiences through their lives,” Bartels said. “We think it provides interesting insights into the origins of the country’s current political divisions.”  

Senior Danni Chacon, who is majoring in political science, said she hopes this award will encourage students to pursue research with Bartels on political behavior and political accountability.

“I think [this accomplishment] is very notable for the political science department, given how much they have invested into expanding their undergraduate program,” Chacon said.