The University of Pennsylvania has awarded Shichun (Asminet) Ling the 2020 Dr. Andy Binns Award for Outstanding Service to Graduate and Professional Student Life. She is one of only five graduate students to receive this award. This selective honor is presented annually to graduating graduate students who have significantly impacted or extensively contributed to graduate and professional student life at Penn through outstanding service involvement and significant positive contributions in student life programs, initiatives, or organizations. Asminet was recognized for her outstanding service and leadership through her roles in the School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Government (including her work during her two-term presidency) and as co-President of the Penn Franklins.
In addition to her leadership accomplishments, Asminet was awarded the 2018 Dean's Scholar award for her exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise as well as the 2019 Dissertation Completion Fellowship for her academic excellence. A biopsychosocial criminologist with a focus on neurocriminology, Asminet's interdisciplinary research examines the roles of biological, psychological, and social factors in the etiology and treatment of antisocial behavior at different stages of the human lifespan. She has published 12 peer-reviewed articles (including 10 first-author publications) in impactful journals such as the Journal of Research on Crime & Delinquency, the Journal of Experimental Criminology, Biological Psychology, and Psychology, Crime, & Law, and 2 first-authored book chapters during her time at Penn. Her work has appeared in the media, including primetime national documentaries series such as PBS NOVA and The Future is Fantastic. Asminet will graduate this spring with her PhD in Criminology and certificates in Social, Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience as well as for College and University Teaching, and begin a tenure-track assistant professor position in the fall.