Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris Awarded 2011 Johan Skytte Prize

The 2011 Johan Skytte Prize has been jointly awarded to Ronald Inglehart, professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and Pippa Norris, professor of political science at the John F. Kennedy School for Government at Harvard University, for “contributing innovative ideas about the relevance and roots of political culture in a global context, transcending previous mainstream apporaches of research.” They will formally accept the prize at a ceremony in Uppsala on September 24, 2011.

First established in 1622 as a professorship in “Eloquence in Government” at Uppsala University (Sweden), the Johan Skytte Prize is awarded annually to the scholar who has made the most valuable contribution to political science. Today, the prize consists of a medal and a cash award of SEK500,000.

The Foundation notes that “through sophisticated analyses and globally-based material,” Inglehart and Norris have “shown that a crucial key to continuity and change in political participation, interest and why issues become prioritized [are] the values, beliefs and attitudes of the citizens themselves. In their joint work, the importance of religion in today's contemporary world has been in focus, as well as gender equality and the role of global media and information technology in affecting values to converge or become more polarized. The process of value formation and change is intimately related to structural factors such as the shift from industrial to post-industrial production, and furthermore rests on feelings of existential security which are affected by a spread in the equality of well-being.

“Characteristic of Norris and Inglehart's research is that their analyses tie together their own as well as previously launched theories with a uniquely rich and subtle material, allowing for systematic empirical testing, development, but also refutation. Their focus is consequently on the citizens, the people, and their indirect interplay with elites and political and societal institutions.”

For more information, see http://www.ipsa.org/.

Ronald Inglehart

Pippa Norris

Theda Skocpol Named Director of American Association of Colleges and Universities

Theda Skocpol was named to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) at its 2011 annual meeting in San Francisco. Seven new directors were named and a slate of new officers elected. AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider noted that the organization “is very fortunate to be led by such a strong and committed board of directors. The board's leadership has contributed greatly to the growth of AAC&U's membership and the strength of its programs and publications.”

Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, where she has also served as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and as director of the Center for American Political Studies. In 2002–03, she served as president of the APSA. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Academy of Sciences. Skocpol's work focuses on both comparative politics and U.S. social policy and civic engagement in American democracy.

The AAC&U is a national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education and seeks to extend the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career.For more information, see http://www.aacu.org/.

Theda Skocpol; photo credit: Martha Stewart

Eight Political Scientists Elected to the 2011 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has announced its 2011 class, which includes 212 scholars; scientists; writers; artists; and civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders. These members will contribute to the Academy's studies of science and technology policy, global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities, and education.

Eight new members have been drawn from the field of political science:

• • Timothy J. Colton, Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies, Harvard University

• • Martha Finnemore, professor of political science and international affairs, George Washington University

• • Jonathan N. Katz, professor of social science and statistics, California Institute of Technology

• • Katherine S. Newman, James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology, Johns Hopkins University

• • Scott E. Page, Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics, University of Michigan

• • Thomas Romer, professor of politics and public affairs and director of the Research Program in Political Economy, Princeton University

• • Charles Haines Stewart III, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• • Sir Adam Roberts, president of the British Academy and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies, Oxford University (foreign honorary member)

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. More information can be found at http://www.amacad.org/.

Three Political Scientists Awarded 2011 Guggenheim Fellowships

Three political scientists have been awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for 2011–12:

Seyla Benhabib is the Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University and previously served as the director of the university's Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics (2002–08). In 2009, she received the Ernst Bloch Prize. Her work focuses primarily on critical, democratic, and feminist theory. Her most recent work is Mobility and Immobility: Gender, Borders and Citizenship (with Judith Resnick). Her Guggenheim project is entitled “The Contested Future of Sovereignty: International Law and Democracy.”

Seyla Benhabib

Eric Matthew Nelson is a professor of government at Harvard University. He has previously been awarded fellowships by Trinity College and the American Council of Learned Societies, and was a Marshall Scholar. His research focuses on the history of political thought in early-modern Europe and America and the implications of that history for debates in contemporary political theory. His most recent work is The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Political Thought (Harvard/Belknap, 2010). His Guggenheim project is entitled “Thinking the Revolution: American Political Thought, 1763–1789.”

Eric Matthew Nelson

Jeffrey A. Segal is a Distinguished University Professor and chair of the department of political science at SUNY, Stony Brook. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha Award (1995). His research focuses on public law (constitutional law, civil liberties, judicial behavior, and the judicial process) research methodologies, and American politics. His most recent book is Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments (with Lee Epstein; Oxford University Press, 2005). Dr. Segal's Guggenheim project is entitled “Supreme Court Decision Making during Times of Crisis: 1793–2010.”

Jeffrey A. Segal

Guggenheim grants provide support to exceptional mid-career scholars, scientists, and artists, giving them the opportunity to work on projects with complete creative freedom anywhere in the world. This year, the Foundation selected 180 fellows from a group of nearly 3,000 applicants from across North America. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was established in 1925 by former U.S. Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife in memory of their son. Since its establishment, the Foundation has granted nearly $290 million in Fellowships to more than 17,000 individuals. More information can be found at http://www.gf.org/.

Six Political Scientists Elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected 503 new Fellows for its 2011 class, recognized for their contributions to science and technology. Six political scientists were elected to the Section on Social, Economic, and Political Sciences:

• • Richard P. Appelbaum, professor of sociology and global and international studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

• • Lynda Carlson, Director, National Science Foundation

• • Edward G. Carmines, Warner O. Chapman Professor and Rudy Professor of Political Science, director of the Center on American Politics, and research director for the Center on Congress, Indiana University

• • Nicholas Christakis, professor of medical sociology and medicine, Harvard Medical School, professor of sociology, Harvard University

• • David Collier, Chancellor's Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

• • Jon A. Krosnick, Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, professor of communication, political science, and psychology, Stanford University

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international nonprofit founded in 1848 and dedicated to advancing science around the world. Fellows are elected each year on the basis of “meritorious efforts to advance science and its applications.” For more information on the AAAS, see http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/.

James Goldgeier Named Dean of American University School of International Service

James Goldgeier, currently a professor of political science and international relations at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, has been named the next dean of American University's School of International Service (SIS). His term will begin August 1, 2011.

James Goldgeier

Goldgeier is a scholar of American foreign policy, international security policy, and transatlantic relations. He has previously served on the Council on Foreign Relations (1995–96) and the National Security Council, and he has held fellowships at the Brookings Institution, the Library of Congress (as a Henry A. Kissinger scholar), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Hoover Institution, and the Transatlantic Academy at the German Marshall Fund. His 2003 book Power and Purpose: U.S. Policy toward Russia after the Cold War (with Michael McFaul) received the 2004 Lepgold Prize for the best book on international relations.

SIS is the largest school of international affairs in the United States, with more than three thousand students from 150 countries. For more information, see http://www.american.edu/sis/about.

Awards

Paul S. Adams, assistant professor, department of political science, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award for 2010–11.

Archie Brown, emeritus professor of politics, Oxford University, was awarded the Alexander Nove Prize of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (for outstanding book in Russian, Soviet, or post-Soviet studies) for The Rise and Fall of Communism. He previously received the W. J. M. Mackenzie Prize for best political science book of the year from the Political Studies Association of the U.K.

Stephen Maynard Caliendo, professor, department of political science, was awarded an Emerging Voice Award from the College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University, as well as the Dissinger Prize for Faculty Scholarship from North Central College.

Robert F. Durant, professor, department of public administration and policy, School of Public Affairs, American University, has been awarded the 2011 Burchfield Prize from the American Society of Public Administration.

Cecil Eubanks, professor, department of political science, Louisiana State University, received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award/Honors College in 2011.

Brian Frederking, professor and chair, department of political science, McKendree University, won the campuswide Exemplary Teaching Award for excellence in teaching.

Daniel Kelliher, associate professor, department of political science, University of Minnesota, was awarded the CLA Arthur “Red” Motley Exemplary Teaching Award for 2010–11.

Joseph Ohren, professor, department of political science, Eastern Michigan University, received the graduate school's first-ever Graduate Mentoring Award in March 2011.

David Ray, dean of the Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College and associate professor, department of political science, Ohio University, has been awarded the $20,000 Otis Sullivant Award for Perceptivity at OU.

Raymond Rosenfeld, professor, department of political science, Eastern Michigan University, received an Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award in fall 2010.

Rosanne Scholl, assistant professor, department of political science and mass communications, received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award/Mass Communications in 2011.

Administrative Appointments

Stephen Maynard Caliendo, professor, department of political science, North Central College, was appointed chair of the Human Thought and Behavior Division.

Kerstin Hamann, professor, department of political science, University of Central Florida, was appointed chair of the department of political science.

Katia Levintova, assistant professor, department of public and environmental affairs, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, was appointed acting chair of political science for the 2011–12 academic year.

Jeffrey S. Peake, professor, department of political science, Clemson University, was appointed chair of the department of political science.

New Appointments

Brady P. Baybeck, associate professor and director, graduate program in public administration, Wayne State University

Jeffrey D. Grynaviski, associate professor, department of political science, Wayne State University

Leila Kawar, assistant professor, department of political science, Bowling Green State University

Andrew Kear, assistant professor, department of political science, Bowling Green State University

Jeffrey S. Peake, professor, department of political science, Clemson University

Promotions

Scott H. Ainsworth, professor, department of political science, University of Georgia

Daniel P. Aldrich, associate professor, department of political science, Purdue University

Elisabeth Hilbink, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, University of Minnesota

Melissa K. Miller, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, Bowling Green State University

Shannon K. Orr, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, Bowling Green State University

Kathryn Pearson, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, University of Minnesota

Brad R. Roth, professor, department of political science and School of Law, Wayne State University

Yumin Sheng, associate professor, department of political science, Wayne State University

Kurt Young, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, University of Central Florida

Visiting Appointments

Wendy Rahn, professor, department of political science, University of Minnesota, will be a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation for academic year 2011–12.

In the News

Jack Citrin, professor, department of political science, University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco Chronicle, on perceptions of quality of life in California.

Joshua Dyck, professor, department of political science, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Globe and Mail, on social media and U.S. and Canada election campaigns.

Elliott Green, lecturer, department of international development, London School of Economics, New York Times, on the Ugandan presidential elections earlier this year, protests over rising prices, and regime change.

Michael T. Heaney, assistant professor, department of political science, University of Michigan, ABCNews.com and Inside Higher Ed on antiwar protesting.

Christopher Mooney, professor, department of government and public affairs, University of Illinois, Springfield, and Arthur Lupia, professor, department of political science, University of Michigan, Mother Jones, on preexisting views, scientific evidence, and political beliefs.

Kevin Smith, professor, department of political science, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Boston Globe, on the contributions of biology to political attitudes.

Ashutosh Varshney, professor, department of political science, Brown University, New York Times, on parallels between the Gilded Age in the United States and contemporary India.

Lynn Vavreck, associate professor, department of political science, University of California, Los Angeles, Voice of Russia, on bids for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.