​J. S. Chen has been selected as the recipient of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) The Belytschko Medal for 2017 "for his seminal contributions to the development of stabilized Galerkin and collocation meshfree methods and its applications to multiscale materials modeling and solids and structures subjected to extreme loading conditions."

The Belytschko Medal (formerly USACM Computational Structural Mechanics Award, renamed July 2013) is given in recognition of outstanding and sustained contributions to computational solid and/or structural mechanics (CSM). These contributions shall generally be in the form of important research results that significantly advance the understanding of theories and methods impacting CSM. Industrial applications and engineering analysis that advance CSM shall also represent accomplishments worthy of recognition.