The Distinguished Faculty Researcher Award recognizes top performing senior faculty who have a distinguished record of publications and a current project with equal potential. Recipients are endorsed by their school chairs and receive a one-time $20,000 research award. The 2017 awardee is Public Policy Professor Mary Frank Fox.

Mary Frank originated and is the driving force behind the ADVANCE Program at Georgia Tech, an initiative supported by Institute Diversity that seeks to increase the representation, full participation, and advancement of women and minorities in academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. In addition, she serves as co-director of Georgia Tech’s Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology, and in 2016, she received Georgia Tech’s 2016 Gender Equity Champion Award.

Mary Frank has long been interested in how women and men participate and perform in scientific fields, as well as organizational practices and policies that support equity. A pioneer in the study of gender in science, her publications have appeared in more than 60 different scholarly and scientific journals, books, and collections. Her research focuses on gender, science and academia--the study of women and men in academic and scientific organizations and occupations, with significant implications for science and technology policy. This work has introduced and established the ways in which scientists' participation and performance reflect and are affected by the social and organizational settings in which they are educated and work.

Mary Frank brings to the national forefront issues of diversity, equity, and excellence through her current work with advisory boards and panels including those as: member (and twice past chair) of the Social Science Advisory Board, National Center for Women and Information Technology; council member, Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology of the American Sociological Association; Advisory Board member, Expanding Computer Education Pathways Alliance; and Editorial Board Member of the leading journal, Social Studies of Science. In addition, in 2015, Mary Frank received an award as "Section Star" from the Science, Knowledge, and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association, and this year, she was named to the Electorate Nominating Committee of the Section on Social, Economic, and Political Sciences of the AAAS. This committee is responsible for selecting slates of candidates for AAAS positions.