February 1, 2011

UCSB's SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind Receives Additional $1.26 Million from SAGE Publications to Establish Postdoctoral Visiting Fellows Program

Eileen Conrad

The SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at UC Santa Barbara has received an additional $1.26 million gift from SAGE Publications, Inc., of Thousand Oaks, to establish a postdoctoral fellowship program that will bring exceptional recent Ph.D. recipients to campus to teach and conduct research.

"The purpose of the Junior Fellows Program will be to provide men and women in the initial period of their scholarly careers an opportunity to pursue their studies in any department of the university," said Michael Gazzaniga, UCSB professor of psychology and director of the SAGE Center.

"They will be postdoctoral scholars of outstanding ability, working at a level that will make them sought-after candidates for junior faculty positions as they move on in their careers.

SAGE Center Junior Fellows will also be given an opportunity to develop independent research programs in collaboration with UCSB faculty members."

During their fellowship at UCSB, the junior fellows will be able to interact and explore intellectual issues that are common to many academic disciplines and learn to appreciate the different perspectives that are in play on any give topic, noted Gazzaniga. "There isn't a topic of human concern that can't be considered from a biological, psychological, social, or arts perspective," he said.

"We want to try to have these conversations be ongoing and interactive."

"SAGE is a real partner of the academic community," said Blaise Simqu, SAGE president and chief executive officer.

"We have been supporting quality research that transforms society and our understanding of individuals, groups, and cultures for more than 45 years.

We're very pleased to make this gift in order to help advance the work of Dr. Gazzaniga and the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind."

UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang expressed his sincere gratitude to SAGE Publications for its ongoing, generous support.

"This extraordinary gift is further affirmation of the innovative research taking place at our SAGE Center under the leadership of Professor Michael Gazzaniga, known as the founder of the cognitive neuroscience field.

This frontier research is advancing our understanding of the multidimensional nature of the human mind.

UC Santa Barbara is indeed fortunate to have the visionary partnership of SAGE Publications in this exciting endeavor."

SAGE Center Junior Fellows will be in residence at UCSB for two years in a variety of campus departments affiliated with the center, including psychology, economics, political science, anthropology, biology, and philosophy.

The SAGE Center was established in 2005 with a generous gift from SAGE Publications, a leading international publisher for academic journals and textbooks.

The corporation also supports a distinguished visiting scholar program and public lecture series at the center, which focuses on issues in neuroscience.

Sara Miller McCune, founder, publisher, and chairman of SAGE Publications, is a generous campus benefactor and a former long-term trustee of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation.

At UCSB, she serves on the national advisory board of the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life.

For more information about the new postdoctoral fellowship program, visit: www.sagecenter.ucsb.edu/fellowships/sage-junior-research-fellowships.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.