SPOTLIGHTS Fukuyama Awarded Skytte Prize

This year, the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science—often considered the Nobel Prize of political science—has been awarded to Francis Fukuyama, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University. Fukuyama is acclaimed for his scholarship on democracy, governance, and political economy, and he joins a prestigious group of recognized political scientists.

The prize, awarded by Uppsala University, has been presented to Fukuyama for his work in The Origins of Political Order (2011) and Political Order and Political Decay (2014). The Johan Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University called the two volumes a “remarkable tour de force,” and selected Fukuyama for the prize “for having with breath-taking learnedness, clarity, and courage thrown new light over the growth of modern political order.”

“I am extremely gratified to learn that I have been awarded the Johan Skytte Prize,” said Fukuyama. “I feel very humbled to be in the company of the extremely distinguished earlier recipients of this great honor.”

Fukuyama came to Stanford from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University, where he was the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy and director of SAIS’ International Development program.

He has written widely on issues relating to questions concerning democratization and international political economy. His book, The End of History and the Last Man, was published by Free Press in 1992 and has appeared in more than 20 foreign editions. His most recent books are The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy, and Falling Behind: Explaining the Development Gap between Latin America and the United States.

Fukuyama received his BA from Cornell University in classics, and his PhD from Harvard University in political science. He has been a member of the political science department of the RAND Corporation and a member of the policy planning staff of the US Department of State. In 1981–82 he was also a member of the US delegation to the Egyptian-Israeli talks on Palestinian autonomy. From 1996 to 2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2004.

Fukuyama is chairman of the editorial board of a new magazine, The American Interest, which he helped to found in 2005. He holds honorary doctorates from Connecticut College, Doane College, Doshisha University (Japan), and Kansai University (Japan). He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation, member of the Board of Governors of the Pardee Rand Graduate School, and member of the advisory boards for the Journal of Democracy, the Inter-American Dialogue, and The New America Foundation. He is a member of the APSA and the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Skytte Prize is awarded to scholars who have made the most valuable contributions to political science. Research in all areas of the discipline is considered: political theory, comparative politics, public administration, and international relations.

Campbell Appointed Department Head

Andrea Louise Campbell has been appointed head of the department of political science, and has been named the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor.

Campbell has contributed actively to the debate about health care and insurance. She is the author of Trapped in America’s Safety Net: One Family’s Struggle; How Policies Make Citizens: Senior Citizen Activism and the American Welfare State; and, with Kimberly J. Morgan, The Delegated Welfare State: Medicare, Markets, and the Governance of Social Provision.

“Andrea’s scholarly and pedagogic profile, her deep understanding of the School and the Institute, and her longstanding reputation for dedication and integrity will serve her well in this leadership role,” said Deborah Fitzgerald, the Kenan Sahin Dean of MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

“I am deeply honored to be appointed head of political science,” said Campbell. “It is a particularly auspicious time for the department as we head into our 50th anniversary.”

Campbell joined the MIT faculty in 2005, following an assistant professorship at Harvard University. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Campbell has been an active member of APSA since 1997, serving in multiple organized sections, including serving as chair of the Organized Section on Public Policy and co-program chair of the 2010 APSA Annual Meeting. She is currently serving on the Centennial Center Advisory Board and has been highly involved in annual meetings over the years, presenting numerous scholarly papers.

Givens Appointed Provost

Menlo College has announced the appointment of Terri Givens as provost. The selection of Givens was made by Menlo President Richard A. Moran after an extensive search.

“I am very excited to be joining the leadership team at Menlo College. This is a wonderful opportunity to build on my own experience as a leader in higher education and to continue the tradition of excellence at Menlo College,” said Givens.

Givens comes from the department of government at the University of Texas, Austin, where she served as professor and was the first African American female vice provost. She earned her BA in international relations from Stanford University and MA and PhD degrees in political science from UCLA. Givens started her teaching career at the University of Washington in the departments of political science, European studies, and international studies.

Givens is affiliated with UT’s Center for Women and Gender Studies and the Center for African and African-American Studies. She has been a fellow of the Migration Policy Institute and a Distinguished Scholar of the Strauss Center for International Law and Security. Her most recent research focuses on European immigration politics and policy.

Givens has authored two books, Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Voting Radical Right in Western Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2005.) She was also on the APSA Presidential Task Force: “Political Science in the 21st Century” from 2008 to 2010.

Her international recognition includes an appointment as Public Policy Scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Visiting Fellow at the Freie Universitäet in Berlin, a Visiting Fellow at the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales in Paris, an appointment as a Distinguished Scholar Alumna from Stanford, and a German Marshall Fund Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation. She regularly attends the Brussels Forum, an annual meeting of influential world leaders.

Givens is the founder of Take Back the Trail, a fitness program designed to address health disparities for women in East Austin. She has been very active in the Austin community and held positions on several boards of directors, including the local public television station, KLRU, and the Austin Mayor’s Health and Fitness Council.