The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) has named La Follette School Professor Tim Smeeding as its John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow for 2017.
Each year, AAPSS invites a small group of outstanding scholars and public servants to join the academy in recognition of the contributions they have made to improving society through research and public service.
Fellows include sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, and economists as well as scholars and practitioners in communications, education, government, and public policy. Each fellowship is named after a distinguished scholar or civic leader who reflects the broad and interdisciplinary nature of the Academy.
"This is one of the highest awards for a social scientist, and Tim is hugely deserving," said La Follette School Director Don Moynihan. "He is a compassionate and exceptional scholar and public servant, and UW-Madison is extremely fortunate to have Tim among its world-class faculty members who provide excellent classroom teaching and wide-reaching research. I am honored to have him as a colleague."
Smeeding is known internationally as the founder and director of the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), an independent nonprofit research center and cross-national database of income, wealth, labor market and demographic information of citizens from more than 50 countries, which he directed until 2006.
He received his master's degree (1973) and doctorate (1975) in economics from UW-Madison and returned to his alma mater in 2008 to head the Institute for Research on Poverty (2008-2014) and join the La Follette School faculty after teaching at four major universities.
"I am truly blessed and thrilled to receive this lifetime honor and to be part of this esteemed group of scholars," said Smeeding, who will be inducted May 18, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
The Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, Smeeding also pioneered the Wisconsin Poverty Measure in 2008. He has authored dozens of articles and books and serves on numerous academic and scientific commissions, panels, boards and working groups nationally and internationally.
Past fellows include UW-Madison Chancellor Becky Blank and Sheldon Danziger, IRP director from 1983 to 1988 as well as the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, with whom Smeeding and Lee Rainwater co-authored The Future of the Family (New York: Russell Sage Foundation) in 2004 shortly before his passing.
One of the country's oldest and most esteemed learned societies, AAPSS has inducted more than 100 fellows since 2000 Most are university-based scholars, including Nobel Prize winners, scientists, historians, and scholars, while others are practitioners in education, government, and public policy.
Story courtesy of the La Follette School of Public Affairs
