Recognizing excellence in the profession is one APSA's most important activities. Continuing the tradition set in 2003, Program co-chairs Atul Kohli and Anne Norton will host the APSA Awards Luncheon and Ceremony. The event will take place from 12:00–2:00 pm on Thursday, September 2. Nineteen awards will be given in categories for dissertations, books, papers, articles, and career achievement. For the first time, the Frank J. Goodnow Award will also be presented at this event. The luncheon is a ticketed event, though the ceremony is open to all attendees. The event is made possible through the generous support of the Policy Studies Organization.

Luke Bierman, director, justice center, American Bar Association, has been named associate editor of Justice System Journal, effective at the end of 2005.

Fred Kort, professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, passed away at the age of 85 on July 17, 2004, after a long battle with cancer. Born in Vienna, Fred witnessed the rise of the Nazis and was a student of law at the University of Vienna until 1938 when Jewish students were expelled. As a result, Fred emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1942 he volunteered for the U.S. Army and returned to Europe with the 11th Armored Division, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and other engagements, and eventually was stationed in Vienna. Upon his return to the United States, Fred enrolled at Northwestern University in 1946, earning his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in four years. He joined the department of political science at the University of Connecticut in 1950 and taught for 40 years, retiring in 1990.

The APSA Council met April 17, 2004, at the Midwest Political Science Association's Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The following are highlights from the meeting:

“Equal political voice and democratically responsive government are widely cherished American ideals. Indeed, the United States is vigorously promoting democracy abroad. Yet, what is happening to democracy at home? Our country's ideals of equal citizenship and responsive government may be under growing threat in an era of persistent and rising inequalities. Disparities of income, wealth, and access to opportunity are growing more sharply in the United States than in many other nations, and gaps between races and ethnic groups persist. Progress toward realizing American ideals of democracy may have stalled, and in some arenas reversed.”

Charles J. Fox, professor of political science at Texas Tech University, died of natural causes Thursday, May 6, at his residence in Lubbock, Texas.

The entry in W. H. Auden's Commonplace Book for “Justice” cautions: “Whoever suffers from the malady of being unable to endure any injustice, must never look out of the window, but stay in his room with the door shut. He would also do well, perhaps, to throw away his mirror.” Susan Moller Okin suffered this malady but rejected the poet's advice. She opened the window and looked in the mirror; her writings reflect sensitivity to injustice and acute awareness that her position of privilege and her good fortune made the work she did a moral imperative. The temper of her work was set by her political sensibility to the consequences of strength and weakness and by unflagging attention to the events of our world.

The American Political Science Association is pleased to announce the class for the 2004 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. The Institute is in its 18th year of operation and will again be hosted by Duke University. The Selection Committee for the 2004 class included Paula McClain, director of RBSI, and other members of Duke University faculty: Scott DeMarche, Kerry Haynie, John Aldrich, and John Transue. Twenty outstanding students, representing diverse institutions all over the country, will participate in this summer's program, scheduled for June 6-July 8.

APSA has opened the search process for a successor to Perspectives on Politics Editor Jennifer Hochschild of Harvard University. Applications and nominations are sought for an editor or editorial team of Perspectives, published quarterly by APSA. Perspectives is a general political science journal that draws on rigorous, broad-based research and integrative thinking to provide insight on significant political matters. The journal seeks to capture the excitement and diversity of good political science research and apply it to contemporary politics.

The world lost a true gentleman and a scholar–an aristocrat of the highest order—in early 2004 when Metin Tamkoc passed away in Istanbul, Turkey. One of his colleagues described him as having “possessed a rare combination of urbanity, seriousness of purpose, and good humor. He treated students and faculty alike with deep respect and pursued the highest standards of scholarship.”