Jyotsna Vaid
Texas A&M University's Aggie Women Network has selected Jyotsna Vaid as the recipient of the prestigious 2020 Eminent Scholar Award. The award is given jointly with the Texas A&M University Office of the President. Vaid is a professor of cognition and cognitive neuroscience and women’s and gender studies, and is director of the Language and Cognition Laboratory.
Born in India, Vaid was raised in New York. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Vassar College, her doctorate at McGill University, and a post-doctoral fellowship from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
“I am deeply honored to have been selected for this award," Vaid says. "My experiences at Texas A&M have allowed me to develop as a researcher and an advocate for faculty of color. Working with like-minded colleagues to effect change in academia has been especially rewarding."
Vaid is a pioneer in her field, spearheading new lines of research in language, creative thought, and humor, AWT officials said. She is lauded for her research in the neuropsychology of bilingualism, where she has contributed seminal studies. Through her administrative work at A&M, she strives to advance women, having served on the Women's Faculty Network, as acting director of women's and gender studies, and as past coordinator of the ADVANCE Scholar Program. She has actively mentored several graduate students and women faculty. Vaid is a widely cited author of three edited books and monographs, 86 scholarly articles and 40 book chapters, and is editor and associate editor of two scholarly journals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aggie Women Awards Luncheon will not be held this year. All 2020 recipients will be honored at the 2021 event. Faculty, staff, and students are invited each year to attend and celebrate the recipients of the Eminent Scholar Award and Legacy Award recipients. For updates on a 2021 event, visit the Aggie Women website.
In 2011, Aggie Women Network proposed creating an award specifically for the dedicated women faculty of Texas A&M. The first award was given in 2012. It was established to honor the extraordinary women faculty who serve as role models for all Aggie students.
By Aggie Women Network
