Book Award

We are excited to introduce the new Human Biology Association Book Award, recognizing significant contributions to our understanding of human biology, advancing theory, approaches, methods, or the teaching or practice of human biology.

Recipients of the Human Biology Association Book Award

2024 Jennifer Raff. Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas. Grand Central Publishing. 2022.

2022 Alexandra Brewis and Amber Wutich. Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2022.

2020 Maurizio Meloni. Political Biology: Science and Social Values in Human Heredity from Eugenics to Epigenetics. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016.

Eligibility

The book must have been published within seven years of the nomination (e.g., published in 2012 or more recently for an award given out in 2019).
Books may be singled-authored, multi-authored, or edited (the latter recognizes the increasing importance of intra-/inter-disciplinary research in order to understand complex phenomena)
New editions, including formerly nominated books, are eligible for nomination but only if substantial revisions have been made since the prior edition. It will be the responsibility of the nominator(s) to indicate what these revisions are.
Textbooks are eligible for consideration.
Book authors do not have to be members of the Human Biology Association.

Nomination Process

The Nominator must be an HBA Fellow.
Nominations must be made directly to the Publications Committee Chair. Announcements about the award and the nomination process will be sent out electronically by the HBA and given out at the annual meeting.
The Nominator prepares a letter of nomination that describes the book’s contributions to the field of human biology and can include reviews of the book.
The Publications Committee will compile a file including the nomination letter(s) and copies of book reviews.
The book award competition will be held every other year – with calls for nominations emailed to the membership in the fall of odd calendar years and awards presented at the next business meeting the following spring (in even calendar years).
Book nominations are due by June 1.

Selection Process

The Publications Chair contacts the author/publisher to request two copies of the book(s).
If more than three books are nominated in a single year, the Publications Committee reviews the files and selects the top three nominees.
The Publications Committee reads the book(s) and selects the winner by January 15.
The Publications Committee Chair notifies the Executive Committee and the author(s)/editor(s) is/are contacted by the HBA president and invited to attend the HBA meetings to receive the award.

Award

A plaque/or plaques will be given to the author(s)/editor(s).
$1000 (domestic) or $1500 (overseas-international) to cover travel, lodging, and meals will be paid to the author to attend the meetings and receive the award. In the case of multi-authored books, the travel award will be divided among those authors attending the meetings and receiving the award.
The author(s)/editor(s) will be given free tickets to the Awards Luncheon.
Non-members of the Human Biology Association will be given a free one-year membership to the association.
The Publications Committee will work with the publisher to advertise the HBA on the winning book’s cover.
The author will be provided with 5-7 minutes to provide brief comments (if desired) upon receiving the award at the awards luncheon.

The Award will be presented to the winner(s) at the meeting’s Awards Luncheon. Please send any questions and letters of nomination via email to Masako Fujita, Publications Committee Chair, at masakof@msu.edu.