Ruth O’Hara honored with Cox Medal

RUTH O’HARA, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has won the 2016 Allan V. Cox Medal for Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research. The Cox Medal is awarded annually to a faculty member who has established a record of excellence directing undergraduate research over a number of years.

It was established in memory of the late ALLAN COX, a professor of geophysics and dean of what is now the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. Cox is widely known as the co-discoverer of magnetic field reversals.

Testimonials from current and former undergraduates, high school students, postdoctoral fellows and research coordinators extolled O’Hara’s passion for research and mentorship and described her as “a life-changing mentor.” Her “clear passion for research made me discover my own,” one student wrote. Another noted that “guiding the career development of every single lab member is one of her driving passions.”

Freshmen invited into her lab have stayed through their senior year because they find it such a rigorous and supportive environment. Students discover “how a question becomes an investigation” and are encouraged to develop and conduct their own projects, and to present at conferences and publish, often as first author.

Students emphasized O’Hara’s high standards for scientific research and the skills they acquired. She arranges specialized training, whether in ethics or biostatistics, to enable students to develop polished professional skills. When a student had a concern, one nominator said, O’Hara provided the tools and support needed to undertake the challenge and grow. She gives “critical but not harsh” feedback; students leave meetings “with a strong sense that she holds [them] in high esteem.”

“Dr. O’Hara’s guidance has given me the confidence I need to launch myself into the world of research, and I will be forever thankful,” a student wrote.

Another added, “Dr. O’Hara has helped me become the student I never thought myself capable of becoming.”

O’Hara received her MA in experimental psychology from University College in Dublin, Ireland,
and her PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Southern California. She joined the Stanford faculty in 2000.