AAPSS Names Five 2020 Fellows

Swelling its total roll call of fellows to 140 elected in the past two decades, the directors of the American Academy of Political and Social Science have elected five distinguished scholars to be inducted as fellows of the AAPSS. Katherine Cramer, Eric Foner, Helen Milner, Mario Small, and Bruce Western will be inducted at a ceremony to be held in Washington, D.C., on October 8.

Most of the academy’s fellows are university-based scholars who have changed our understanding of human behavior and the world in which we live; others are public servants who have used scholarly research in government to improve the common good. The October event will also see the awarding of the 2020 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize; the recipient of that award has not been named yet.

Katherine Cramer is a political scientist whose work focuses on the way people in the United States make sense of politics. Cramer’s innovative approach to the study of public opinion has added depth to the analysis of voter attitudes. She is a professor of political science and Natalie C. Holton Chair of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Eric Foner is a historian who specializes in 19th-century America, particularly the Civil War and Reconstruction. Foner’s groundbreaking examinations of race relations, politics, and economic change follow the effects of Civil War-era policies through today’s America. He is DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University.

Helen Milner is a political scientist who has written extensively on international and comparative political economy, the connections between domestic politics and foreign policy, and the impact of globalization on domestic politics. She is B.C. Forbes Professor of Public Affairs and a professor of politics and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

Mario Small is a sociologist whose research looks at the fundamental questions of who we connect with, why, and how we use those connections. Small investigates urban poverty and personal networks, and in so doing analyzes the relationship between qualitative and quantitative research methods. He is Grafstein Family Professor of Sociology at Harvard University.

Bruce Western is a sociologist who studies the connections between political institutions and social and economic inequality, with a focus on criminal justice policy and incarceration. Western’s research has detailed the causes, scope, and consequences of the historic growth in U.S. prison populations. He is the Bryce Professor of Sociology and Social Justice and co-director of the Justice Lab at Columbia University.