Humans use all surfaces of the hand for contact-rich manipulation. Robot hands, in contrast, typically use only the fingertips, which can limit dexterity. In a new study from the lab of Aaron Dollar, professor of mechanical engineering & materials science & computer science, researchers took a non-traditional approach to creating a new design for robotic hands.

In “America on Fire,” the historian Elizabeth Hinton offers a sweeping reconsideration of the racial unrest that shook American cities in the 1960s and 70s.

Alan Mikhail, an authority on Middle Eastern history, has been appointed the Chace Family Professor of History, effective April 17.

Francesco Casetti has been appointed the Sterling Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies, effective April 17.

Eight members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) have recently been named to endowed professorships by vote of Yale’s Board of Trustees.

Ferguson has been appt. the William Robertson Coe Prof. of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Prof. of American Studies, effective April 17.

Martin Hägglund has been appointed the Birgit Baldwin Professor of Comparative Literature and Humanities.

Matthew Frye Jacobson, who studies race in America, has been appointed the Sterling Professor of American Studies and History, effective April 17.

Ronald Raphael Coifman, who made fundamental contributions to pure mathematics, has been appointed the Sterling Professor of Mathematics, effective April 17.

Sarbani Basu has been appointed the William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Astronomy, effective April 17.