Of Note
Adriana Chira Wins James A. Rawley Prize
Former Postdoctoral Fellow Adriana Chira, now associate professor of Atlantic World history at Emory University, is the recipient of the 2023 James A. Rawley Prize for the book Patchwork Freedoms: Law, Slavery, and Race beyond Cuba’s Plantations (Cambridge University Press). The prize, awarded annually since 1998 through the American Historical Association, recognizes outstanding historical writing that explores aspects of integration of Atlantic worlds before the twentieth century.
Marc Melitz Wins Onassis Prize 2023 in International Trade
Faculty Associate Marc Melitz, David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, is one of three world-leading academics to win the 2023 Onassis Prize in International Trade. Established in 1978 by Aristotle Onassis’s hand-written will, the Onassis Prizes recognize outstanding individuals and organizations across the fields of finance, international trade, and shipping—the three fields representing the areas in which Onassis himself excelled.
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way Win Juan Linz Best Book Prize
Faculty Associate Steven Levitsky, David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University, is the recipient (along with coauthor Lucan Way) of the 2023 Juan Linz Best Book Prize, Democracy & Autocracy section of the American Political Science Association, for the book Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism (Princeton University Press). The book was also shortlisted for the 2023 Lionel Gelber Prize, a literary award for the world’s best nonfiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues.
Victor Chu Wins Global Citizen Award from Atlantic Council
Advisory Committee Member Victor L.L. Chu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, First Eastern Investment Group, received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the Atlantic Council. Held annually during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York, the Global Citizen Awards recognizes a vast array of global citizens, ranging from heads of state to world-renowned artists. Chu was among a distinguished group of honorees that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen.
Student Eleanor Wikstrom Wins Rhodes Scholarship
Undergraduate Associate Eleanor Villafranca Wikstrom, from the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies at Harvard College, is one of ten Harvard students named Rhodes Scholars this year. Created in 1902 through the will of Cecil Rhodes, Rhodes Scholarships cover all expenses for two or three years of study at Oxford. Wikstrom’s research focuses on the twentieth-century US system of English-only education in the Philippines as a form of epistemic colonialism. At Oxford, she will pursue studies in imperial and global history and in US history.
Kenneth Shepsle Wins William H. Riker Prize
Faculty Associate (emeritus) Kenneth Shepsle, George D. Markham Research Professor of Government at Harvard University, is the recipient of the William H. Riker Prize for Political Science. The award honors a social scientist in recognition of a body of research that exemplifies and advances the scientific study of politics in the spirit of William Riker. Shepsle received the prize for “advancing the scientific study of politics through research in the formal political theory of structure-induced equilibria, agenda setting and committees, and parliamentary institutions.”
Michael Herzfeld Receives Honorary Doctorate
Faculty Associate (emeritus) Michael Herzfeld, Ernest E. Monrad Research Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, was awarded an honorary doctorate—the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa—at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Herzfeld was given this honor as he is one of the most influential anthropologists of the past fifty years, whose credentials stretch across disciplines and comparative area studies.
Daniel Carpenter and Theda Skocpol Win APSA Career Awards
Faculty Associates Daniel Carpenter and Theda Skocpol each received a career award at the annual APSA (American Political Science Association) meeting and exhibition. Daniel Carpenter, Allie S. Freed Professor of Government at Harvard University, received the 2023 John Gaus Award for a career of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration. Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, received the 2023 James Madison Award for an American political scientist who has made a distinguished scholarly contribution to political science.
Melani Cammett Receives 2023 Star-Friedman Challenge Award
Center Director Melani Cammett is among the recipients of the Star-Friedman Challenge for Promising Scientific Research, an award given annually through an endowment at Harvard University. The award offers opportunities for eligible faculty to seek support for new work in their research programs within the life, physical, and social sciences. Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University, received the award for her project, “Toleration: Living Together after Ethnic Conflict.”
Victor Seow Wins Michael H. Hunt Prize for International History
Faculty Associate Victor Seow, associate professor of the history of science at Harvard University, is the recipient of the 2023 Michael H. Hunt Prize for International History for his book, Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia (University of Chicago Press). The prize committee deemed Seow’s book “to be a highly original study emphasizing the centrality of energy extraction to questions of international politics, war, and diplomacy.” The award was presented at the annual SHAFR (Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations) Conference.
Four Faculty Associates Win Salata Institute Grants
The Salata Institute Seed Grant Program, launched this year at Harvard University to enable new interdisciplinary research in climate and sustainability, announced its first cohort of awards. Among the recipients are Faculty Associates Mina Cikara and Dustin Tingley for a project that focuses on communicating the benefits of climate action; Faculty Associate Rema Hanna for a project on studying electricity subsidies and consumption in a developing world; and former Center Director Michèle Lamont for a project on recognizing Indigenous claims for environmental justice.
Ping-hsiu Alice Lin Receives IACS Dissertation Prize
Academy Scholar Ping-hsiu Alice Lin is the recipient of a dissertation prize from the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society for her dissertation titled, “Precious Economies: Gems and Value-Making in the Pakistan-Afghanistan Borderlands.” Lin’s research focuses on movement, labor, and associated practices that transform rough minerals into precious stones in the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands.
Daniel Agbiboa Wins Two APSA Awards
Faculty Associate Daniel Agbiboa, assistant professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University, is the recipient of two 2023 awards from the American Political Science Association (APSA): the Clarence Stone Scholar Award for “making a significant contribution to the study of urban politics” (Urban and Local Politics Section) and the Politics & Gender Best Article Award (Women, Gender & Politics Section) for the article, “Out of the Shadows: The Women Countering Insurgency in Nigeria” published in Politics & Gender.
Photo by Bethany Versoy