Anna Harvey Stepping Down as SSRC President
Political scientist Anna Harvey will leave her role as president of the Social Science Research Council on June 30, the New York City-based nonprofit announced today. In a message to staff, Harvey wrote that she was “step[ping] away for a sabbatical year.” The search for a replacement will begin in the fall.
Harvey was the 15th president of the 102-year-old organization, having taken the reins on July 1, 2021. She in turn had replaced Alondra Nelson, who left to take a role as the top social scientist in then-President Biden’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Bill Janeway, chair of the SSRC’s board, highlighted three key achievements made under Harvey:
- Launching and advancing the Centennial Capital Campaign, which raised over $100 million in programmatic and endowment support;
- Expanding the College and University Fund; and
- Strengthening connections between academic researchers and policymakers.
“Anna has been a tireless advocate for the scholarly community and for leveraging academic research to improve public policy,” a statement to staff quoted him.
A political scientist by training, Harvey was founding director of the Public Safety Lab at New York University, where she was a dean and an affiliated professor of both data science and law. Her most recent co-authored book, Judicial Decision-Making, integrates social science and legal approaches to understanding how judges render decisions and settle cases. Her 2013 book, A Mere Machine: The Supreme Court, Congress, and American Democracy, investigated how decision-making in the highest court in the United States interacts with Congress.
“It has been an honor to serve the research community these last four years,” she wrote in the message to staff. “In a challenging environment for research funding, we showed that it is possible to attract significant philanthropic support for rigorous and impactful social and behavioral science that helps communities thrive.”
The SSRC Board’s Executive Committee will serve as the search committee for the council’s next president. Inquiries and nominations may be directed to Naomi Lamoreaux, chair of the search committee, at presidentialsearch@ssrc.org.
