Cornell psychology researchers Gordon Pennycook and David Rand have won the 2026 Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their 2024 article about using AI to combat conspiracy theories.

The association’s oldest award, the prize is given to the authors of an outstanding research article published in the journal Science.

“Durably Reducing Conspiracy Beliefs Through Dialogues With AI,” first published Sept. 13, 2024, in Science, showed that conversations with large language models can effectively reduce individuals’ belief in conspiracy theories – and that these reductions last for at least two months.

Pennycook, associate professor of psychology and Dorothy and Ariz Mehta Faculty Leadership Fellow in College of Arts and Sciences, and Rand, professor in Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and A&S, co-authored the study with Thomas Costello, lead author and assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Interdisciplinary artists and composers Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike have been named United States Artists Fellows for 2026. The USA Fellowship gives recipients an unrestricted award of $50,000.

Mendi Obadike, professor in the Department of Performing and Media Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences, works collaboratively with Keith Obadike, professor in the Department of Art in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

Their projects include four books, two albums and a series of large-scale public sound artworks. They have exhibited and performed their interdisciplinary work at the New Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.

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Anna Y. Q. Ho, assistant professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2026 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize by the American Astronomical Society.

Given annually for outstanding achievement in observational astronomical research based on measurements of radiation from an astronomical object, the Pierce Prize this year recognized Ho’s pioneering investigations of extreme explosions powered by stellar death. Her research has revealed ultra-bright, short-duration optical flaring associated with a new class of visual events called Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients, which are thought to be associated with the destruction of stars.

Ho’s research uses telescopes all over the world and in space to study the lives and deaths of stars and other energetic phenomena. 

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Song Lin, the Tisch University Professor in chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, has received the 2025 Snapdragon Prize for Innovation in Chemistry Technology. 

Snapdragon Chemistry, a subsidiary of Cambrex based in Boston, established the award in 2024 to recognize one leading academic researcher each year in synthetic chemistry or engineering who has made significant impact in bringing innovation for modern pharmaceutical discovery and manufacturing. The award comes with a $50,000 unrestricted fund to the Lin Lab. 

Lin and his research group work in organic chemistry, with specific interests in electrosynthesis, catalysis and technology development. Lin is recognized for advancing electrochemical techniques that enable efficient, sustainable synthesis of complex organic molecules, accelerating drug development and materials innovation. 

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The Chronicle will run regular updates on awards and honors earned by Cornell faculty members and researchers.