By Taylor Paraboschi

The University announced the two winners of the University’s annual Lawrence A. Stessin Award for Outstanding Scholarly Publication on April 20.

The Stessin Award was established in 1984 by the University to honor Dr. Stessin, who was a professor of management at the University from 1958 to his retirement in 1973. According to the University’s website, Dr. Stessin donated substantial funds to the University’s Endowment Fund with the intention that it uses the money as an “incentive and reward for junior faculty who publish the results of their scholarly work.” Thus, the Stessin Award was created.

“[The University] has a lot of really smart and accomplished young scholars, so I knew the competition would be tough,” said Stephanie Cobb, assistant professor of religious studies and one of the recipients of the award.

Cobb, who has been teaching here at the University since 2002, received the Stessin award for her book, “Dying to be Men: Gender and Language in Early Christian Martyr Texts,” which addresses the masculine imagery found in the early martyr texts. “I found out that [masculine imageries] occur quite often, once you know what to look for,” she said.

Cobb received her undergraduate degree in 1992 from Baylor University, where she double-majored in both Archaeology and Religion. “I was always interested in the history of ancient religions and in the ways that a society’s social history, or crises, affect religious beliefs,” said Cobb.

The second recipient of the Stessin award was Bennett Capers, an associate professor of law. Capers said that it was not only an honor to be nominated for the award, but to win also. “It validates everything I’m about, which is finding a way to reduce crime,” said Capers. He received the award for his 2008 journal article “Crime, Legitimacy, and Testifying,” which was published in the Indiana Law Journal.

Capers, a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, has been a professor at the University’s School of Law since 2005. “It was really my background as a federal prosecutor that dictated my subject area, which is criminal law and criminal procedure,” said Capers.

Capers’ article addresses the problem of police perjury and how to rectify the problem. “In the article, I wanted to address not only how pervasive [police perjury] is, but why it makes good sense to tackle it head on,” he said.

Both Cobbs and Capers will receive their award on May 17 at the undergraduate commencement ceremony.