Distinguished Scientific Contributions

In 2000, the SSSR Board approved a modification in the Society’s award procedure. Under this modification, the SSSR makes a single award, the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award. The award recognizes empirical, theoretical, or scholarly work or collections of works that have served significantly to further the scientific understanding of reading, its processes, its acquisition, or its instruction. The award will be given every other year.

The award for the Distinguished Scientific Contributions recognizes empirical, theoretical, or scholarly work or collection of works that have served significantly to further the scientific understanding of reading, its processes, its acquisition, or its instruction. The award will be given every other year.

2004 Award winner:  Charles A. Perfetti

The winner of the 2004 award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions is Charles A. Perfetti, University Professor of Psychology and Linguistics; Associate Director and Senior Scientist, Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh.

2002 Award winner:  Linnea Ehri

The winner of the 2002 award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions is Linnea Ehri, Professor of Psychology and Education at the City University of New York.

2000 Award winner:  Keith Stanovich

The winner of the 2000 award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions is Keith E. Stanovich, Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Toronto/OISE. The award recognizes Stanovich’s wide ranging and influential work in important areas of basic research as well as his strong commitment and influence in advancing the pursuit and appreciation of the scientific understanding of reading. Keith Stanovich’s work has been seen as clarifying a multitude of issues for the field, such as the components (and precursors) of word identification skill, the nature of reading disability and the role of reading experience in the acquisition of reading skill. Moreover, Keith has been willing to confront issues of reading education by communicating the results of the research field as a whole to teachers and teacher educators.

Outstanding Scientific Contribution Award

The award for the Outstanding Scientific Contribution to the study of reading recognizes specific empirical, theoretical, or scholarly works or collections of work that have served significantly to further the scientific understanding of reading, its acquisition, or its instruction.

1999 Award winner:  Peter Bryant

In 1999 the award was presented to Peter Bryant of Oxford University in England for a collection of works on reading acquisition. These works, which have been carried out in collaboration with a number of different colleagues, address such topics as children's phonological skills and their role in learning to read, individual differences in reading skill, and the nature and causes of developmental dyslexia. Peter Bryant's work has done much to further our understanding of reading acquisition. In addition, this work has important implications for reading instruction.
Peter presented a speech at the 2000 meeting of SSSR.

1997 Award winners:  Alvin Liberman, Isabelle Liberman, and Donald Shankweiler

1995 Award winners:  Keith Rayner and Geroge McConkie

Distinguished Fellow Award

The award for Distinguished Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading recognizes individuals who, through contributions across their careers, have served extraordinarily to advance the pursuit and appreciation of the scientific understanding of reading.

1999 Award winner:  Richard Venezky

In 1999 the award was presented to Richard Venezky of the University of Delaware. His pioneering work on the relationships between spellings and sounds in English provides the foundation for understanding what is involved in the reading of words and what is lacking in children who have trouble learning to read. Venezky has studied how children learn about the relationships between spellings and sounds in English and other languages and why some children have difficulty grasping these mappings. In addition to his work on the structure of English orthography, Venezky has written extensively about the history of research on reading. Venezky has also advanced the understanding of reading through his work in organizing conferences and promoting funding for reading research.

1996 Award winner:  John Carroll

The Rebecca L. Sandak Award

The Rebecca L. Sandak Young Investigator Award was established in 2008 to honor the memory of Rebecca Sandak who died before her research goals and ideas could be fully realized (please see the full award description below). The award is intended to recognize a gifted young reading researcher who shows outstanding promise and dedication to the field, in the form of a best interactive paper, presented at the annual SSSR meeting. The interactive paper should reflect the applicant’s potential in that it details outstanding research. The award includes a certificate and a monetary award of $500.00.

The award is presented annually at the SSSR meeting. Candidates may be nominated or apply. They must meet the following criteria:

1. Applicants must be doctoral students or postdocs, faculty, lecturers or research scientists who have received their Ph.D. within the last five years (the applicant’s Ph.D. must have been awarded no earlier than July 2003).
2. Applicants must have an accepted interactive paper
3. Applicants must attend the conference and present their interactive paper

Applicants or individuals nominating on an applicant’s behalf should submit a cover letter and a PDF copy of the poster that is to be considered to the Chair of the Awards Committee by a designated date each year.

Full award description

The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR), Rebecca L. Sandak, Young Investigator Award has been established to honor the memory of Rebecca Sandak who died before her research goals and ideas could be fully realized. The award is intended to recognize a gifted young reading researcher who shows outstanding promise and dedication to the field, in the form of a best interactive paper, presented at the annual SSSR meeting. The candidate should be either a doctoral student or junior researcher, whose degree (Ph.D.) was awarded within five years prior to their abstract submission. The award will include a certificate and a monetary award of $500.00.

Brief Biography of Rebecca Sandak:

Rebecca first became interested in the scientific study of reading as an undergraduate at Binghamton University where she volunteered as a tutor in the Learning Disabilities Clinic. She became passionate about understanding the cognitive mechanisms that support reading and identifying scientifically sound techniques that could improve reading instruction and remediation. She pursued this interest by attending graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, where she worked with Dr. Charles Perfetti to investigate the causal role of phonological awareness in the development of reading skill in first graders. Also during this period she became committed to applying cognitive neuroscience techniques to the study of reading, and helped to develop an early fMRI study of reading disability in children. She completed her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience in 2001. She continued her research at Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, CT, where she received advanced training in fMRI methodology with Dr. Kenneth Pugh. During her tenure at Haskins, where she was employed as a Senior Scientist until her death in 2006, Rebecca conducted seminal research on the neural mechanisms of adaptive learning and skill acquisition in reading. Her work provided a solid foundation for the ongoing study of reading development and optimal instruction for children at risk for reading disability.

Rebecca also had a special relationship with the Society for the Scientific Study for Reading, an active member since 1998, She was a regular attendee and presenter at the annual SSSR meeting. In 2004, she co-edited a special issue of the SSR journal (with Russ Poldrack) on the cognitive neuroscience of reading and in 2005 she organized a symposium on learning in the brain for the annual meeting. Rebecca was committed to SSSR and its mission and having an award through SSSR linked to her name is of particular significance.

Rebecca’s death will be a tremendous loss to the field of reading research, as her dual focus on basic research and classroom application enabled her to make significant contributions in both areas, despite being in the early stages of her career. She had a keen intellect and a warm, unassuming style that enabled her to connect easily with scientists and non-scientists, educators and parents to advance her goal of improving the science and practice of reading instruction.

The SSSR, Rebecca L. Sandak, Young Investigator Award for best interactive paper is intended to help promote these qualities in young researchers by providing a modest award that should be used to further the recipient’s research career, with the hope that Rebecca’s goals may continue to be realized.