KU News Release

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean receives top honor for research

LAWRENCE — In recognition of a career filled with achievements in behavioral neuroscience, Joseph E. Steinmetz, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas, has been awarded the prestigious Gantt Medal by the Pavlovian Society.

The Gantt Medal is the society’s top award. The annual award recognizes career achievements of an individual who has made distinguished contributions to the fields of psychology, physiology, behavioral neuroscience, psychophysiology, mental health or medicine within the confines of Pavlovian conceptual models.

Steinmetz’s enormous research contributions in behavioral neuroscience made him a top contender for the award, said Richard Servatius, past-president of the Pavlovian Society. Servatius was on the panel that chose Steinmetz as this year’s recipient of the Gantt Medal.

“The breadth of his research, the depth of his research made him a natural choice,” Servatius said.

For the last 25 years, Steinmetz has studied how the brain is involved in learning and memory. That research includes two lines of research that are currently under way at KU.

In one series of experiments, Steinmetz developed an animal model of fetal alcohol syndrome and studied how prenatal exposure to high levels of alcohol affects brain development and brain activity related to learning. In a second series of studies, he is exploring the involvement of the cerebellum in response-timing deficits seen in schizophrenia.

“I was honored to receive this award from the Pavlovian Society, which counts among its members many scientists and researchers I admire greatly,” Steinmetz said. “I am also indebted to many undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who I have had the pleasure to work with over the years, including an active group here at KU that continues to study how the brain is involved in learning and memory.”

Steinmetz received the award at the annual meeting of the Pavlovian Society last month in Weehawken, N.J. The award puts Steinmetz in an elite group, Servatius said.

“When we get down to deciding who’s in the running for the Gantt, you’re really talking about a handful of people across the country, even internationally,” he said. “It is a who’s who of people in the area of learning and conditioning that now he finds himself among.”

The Gantt Medal was established by the Pavlovian Society following the death of its founder, W. Horsley Gantt, in 1980. The society is dedicated to the scientific study of behavior and promotion of interdisciplinary scientific communication. It recognizes the value of research at the molecular level but encourages members to stress the significance of their scientific observations to the whole functioning organism.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.