Steven Hahn, professor of history, won the 2004 Bancroft Prize for his book “A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South From Slavery to the Great Migration.” Chosen from an unusually large pool of nominees, Hahn’s book was described by the jurors as a “work of breathtaking ambition and scope [in which] Hahn traces the torturous route followed by African-Americans as they emerged from slavery and traveled through Reconstruction to Jim Crow and beyond.”

Dennis Discher, associate professor of chemistry, has been elected to receive a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award in recognition of his achievements in the field of science. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestows the awards annually to 10 outstanding young non-German scientists and scholars to advance their own work and foster collaboration in the international scientific community.

Carolyn Gibson, professor of anatomy and cell biology, received the 2004 Research in Oral Biology Award from the International Association for Dental Research. The award recognizes Gibson, who has been a faculty member since 1986, and her contribution to the understanding of the molecular and genetic basis for tooth development and arrangement.

Honorary degree recipients

Besides Bono (“News briefs,” Current, March 18), four other distinguished individuals will receive honorary degrees at Penn’s 248th Commencement May 17:

Elizabeth Blackburn is a world leader in the study and research of cancer. She co-discovered an enzyme that could stabilize cancer cells and has received many prestigious awards and achievements throughout her illustrious career.

Lee Friedlander, most noted for his album portraits of Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, has been hailed as an innovator in photography who changed the way pictures are taken.

Jaroslav Pelikan has led a distinguished career in the study of Christianity. His work is often considered the definitive exploration of Christian tenets and he has been awarded honorary degrees from more than 40 institutions.

Jazz drummer/composer Max Roach’s life and musicology have deeply influenced American music and culture. Praised as the “Duke Ellington of the drums,” Roach also stood at the forefront of the civil rights movement.