Professors Goldin, Sampson, students honored by AAPSS

The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) recognized its new group of fellows for 2007 at an April 29 ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The 2007 fellows include four Harvard students and Harvard faculty members Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics, and Robert J. Sampson, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences.

Douglas S. Massey, the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and president of the AAPSS, noted, “Each new round of new appointments of academy fellows greatly strengthens the academy’s mission. The wide influence of their work stands as an example for all social scientists, both active and nascent.”

Fellows are designated to a position named after a distinguished scholar and public servant who has written over the past century for the academy’s bimonthly journal, The Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Science. Goldin has been named this year’s Charlotte Perkins Gilman Fellow, and Sampson is the Ernest W. Burgess Fellow.

Goldin (who was unable to attend the ceremony) was recognized by the AAPSS for her contributions to the study of gender and race inequalities, economics, and family. Sampson, meanwhile, was honored for his extensive contributions to the field of criminology, out of which has arisen his groundbreaking work on the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Sampson’s research has provided the data and impetus for more social awareness of, and investments in, urban communities. As he noted in his acceptance speech, “The appreciation of the role of the community and community context in urban development has seen some improvement with regard to our work.”

AAPSS also designated 41 graduate fellows of the academy, including Ph.D. candidate in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government Fotini Christia. Each graduate fellow was elected on the basis of nominations from his or her department according to three criteria: an outstanding grasp of a discipline’s theories and methods, as demonstrated through graduate course work; an enthusiasm for understanding social issues; and the promise of making substantial contributions to the social sciences in the future.

AAPSS also designated 135 junior fellows, three of whom are Harvard seniors. They are Baillie Aaron, nominated by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Merve Emre, nominated by the Department of Government; and Jacob Model, nominated by the Department of Sociology. Additionally, Model received an AAPSS 2007 Undergraduate Research Award for his paper “How Much Should a CEO Make? A Comparison of Legitimate Income Differences in Four Western Nations.” It was one of 10 winning papers selected by AAPSS from the papers submitted.