Robert Entman Wins Humboldt Prize

Robert Entman, J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs and professor of international affairs at the George Washington University, has won the prestigious international Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for his field-changing contributions to political communication. Entman is the world's first political communication scholar and the first from the George Washington University to receive this award, and he will work at the Free University of Berlin for the majority of 2012. While in Germany, he will conduct comparative research in order to better understand how inequality has grown faster in the United States than in Western Europe.

“I am delighted to be the first Humboldt Award recipient recognized for contributions to political communication scholarship,” said Entman. “I appreciate this acknowledgment of the media's fundamental role in shaping politics and democracy.”

Robert Entman's award-winning research focuses on media framing and bias and the media's influence on foreign policy, race relations and other important areas of American politics. His 1993 conceptualization of framing has been cited in thousands of scholarly works. Dr. Entman will release a new book in March 2012 titled Scandal and Silence: Media Responses to Presidential Misconduct. Using a series of recent case studies, he argues against the commonly-held view that media eagerly work themselves into “feeding frenzies” over sex scandals and other wrong-doings by top politicians.

Entman received two other honors this year. His 2004 book, Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy, won the 2011 Doris Graber Book Award from APSA's political communication section. He also will receive the 2011 Wayne A. Danielson Award for Distinguished Contributions to Communication Scholarship, given annually to one scholar by the Jesse H. Jones College of Communication at the University of Texas.

“It's extremely fitting that Robert Entman was chosen for this award,” said Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs. “His trailblazing research is without peer in the political communication landscape, and his impact on other researchers and students has changed the way people study issue framing, media bias, and political communication topics. We at the School of Media and Public Affairs are proud to count Bob among our ranks.”

Among his other recognitions are the Murray Edelman Distinguished Career Achievement Award in Political Communication (APSA's political communication section) and an NCA Distinguished Scholar award. The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America, his 2000 book written with Andrew Rojecki, won Harvard University's Goldsmith Book Prize, the Frank Luther Mott Award for best book in Mass Communication, the APSA political psychology section's Robert E. Lane Award for best book in political psychology, and other prizes.

Goldstein Retires from Delaware

Leslie Goldstein retired in January 2012 from the department of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware after almost 40 years of service. Her research, on which she remains active, focuses on issues in constitutional law, gender and law and political theory. She has written or co-authored several books on the legal rights of women, including the American Political Science Association's Women in the Judicial Process (1988) and The Constitutional and Legal Rights of Women (Oxford, 2006, with Judith Baer). Goldstein received her PhD from Cornell University and has held visiting positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham, University of California, Berkeley, and Bryn Mawr.

Goldstein joined the association in 1966 as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. She has been an active member of APSA's organized section on Law and Courts, and was the section president of from 1992–1993. She has also served on awards committees and the annual meeting program committee. Her presentation at APSA's 2011 annual meeting was The Supreme Court and Racial Minorities 1868–1918.

“Leslie Goldstein is the one of the liveliest colleagues in the department. In departmental meetings, in job talks and even in email exchanges, Leslie is always engaged, making sharp observations and often critical contributions to our deliberations” said Muqtedar Khan, associate professor, POSCIR, at the University of Delaware.

“One of Leslie's major contributions to the department was her enthusiastic participation in department decisions. She invariably played a central role in ensuring that the deliberations as well as the results were fair. This is just one of the many facets of her career that reflect her strong commitment to fairness and democracy,” added Sue Davis, Professor Emerita at the University of Delaware.

Cann Elected to Logan's City Council

Damon Cann, assistant professor of political science at Utah State University, is one of three newly elected individuals chosen in North Logan's (Utah) 2011 general city council election.

“I'm thrilled,” Cann said. “I worked as hard as I could to try to make this happen. I can't really claim credit for my success on my own. I have quite a few people who have been supporting me, advising me, endorsing me, putting up signs, passing out fliers, and just helping in a variety of ways to help make this happen.”

According to general election results, with 608 votes, Cann received the most of the six candidates who ran. Will the election and public office be helpful in the classroom?

“Now when I teach my class on campaigns and elections I'm not just telling them about other people's elections, I can tell them about mine,” Cann said.

Norris Gains Fellowship

The Australian Research Council has awarded professor Pippa Norris the 2011 Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship in recognition of her role in the humanities and social sciences. The Australian Laureates are the most prestigious award given by the ARC. In a nation-wide competition among all disciplines in the natural and social sciences and humanities, this is the first ARC Laureate ever awarded to a political scientist.

Pippa Norris is the McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She is also a visiting professor at The University of Sydney's department of government and international relations. A well-known public speaker and author of almost 40 books, her research in comparative politics examines democratic institutions and culture, public opinion and elections, gender politics, and political communications.

The five-year award provides $2.6m for research aiming to deepen and advance understanding of the impact of democratic governance on prosperity, welfare, and peace in countries around the world since the late twentieth century. The third wave of democratization has transformed regimes around the globe and the research will seek to establish whether this process has in turn generated concrete benefits in human development.

As part of the additional inaugural Kathleen Fitzpatrick Fellowship, she also plans to run workshops and networking events aimed at encouraging early-career women researchers to stay in academia, and also encourage research on gender equality in elected office.

Professor Norris has received numerous awards including the 2011 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science(with Ronald Inglehart) for her contribution to political science, APSA's political communications section's Doris A. Graber Award for the best book published in political communications, the Independent Sector's Virginia A. Hodgkinson research prize, and the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from the Midwest Political Science Association Women's Caucus. Norris has also served as the Director of the Democratic Governance Group at the United Nations Development Programme in New York and as an expert consultant for many international bodies, including UNESCO, NDI, the Council of Europe, International IDEA, the World Bank, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the UK Electoral Commission.

Kaarbo Joins University of Edinburgh Faculty

Juliet Kaarbo joined the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh as a senior lecturer. She arrives in Scotland after almost two decades at the University of Kansas, where she was an associate professor and Director of Faculty Programs in the Office of International Programs. Her book, Coalition Politics and Cabinet Decision Making: A Comparative Analysis of Foreign Policy Choices, is expected in 2012 from the University of Michigan Press. She had presented at conferences and workshops in western Europe, Costa Rica, and Turkey (a major current research interest) and briefed officials from the CIA and Department of Defense.

Kaarbo joined the association in 1990, while pursuing her doctorate at Ohio State University. She received a fellowship from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation to conduct dissertation research in Germany and additional doctoral dissertation support from the National Science Foundation. Kaarbo has been active in APSA's Foreign Policy organized section. She has published in both PS: Political Science and Politics and Perspectives on Politics. Mark Aspinwall, head of politics and international relations at Kaarbo's new department says, “we in Edinburgh are delighted Julie has joined us. She deepens our expertise in international relations and brings a fresh angle on foreign policy analysis. She also has vast experience working with PhD students, which will be enormously helpful as we build numbers in the coming years.”

Nylan Heads to Dartmouth

Brendan Nyhan was appointed assistant professor in the department of government at Dartmouth College. He received his doctoral degree from Duke University and was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan from 2009–2011. His work focuses on political scandal and misperceptions concerning politics and health care. Nyhan is co-author of the New York Times bestseller All the President's Spin.

Nyhan is an avid blogger whose work frequently appears in the Huffington Post and Washington Monthly. His presentation at the 2011 APSA Annual Meeting, which was co-authored with Jason Reifler of Georgia State University, was titled “Opening the Political Mind? The Effects of Self-Affirmation and Graphical Information on Factual Misperceptions.” John Carey, a new colleague of Nyhan's at Dartmouth, is excited about his appointment, stating, “Brendan Nyhan's research is ambitious and creative. He is at the front edge of scholarship on public opinion and American politics. His work is attracting the attention of the most thoughtful blogs and popular media outlets.”

New Appointment for Smith

Steven Rathgeb Smith was named the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Nancy Bell Evans Professor of Public Affairs at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. He returns to the University where he taught from 1996-2009 after a two-year stint at Georgetown University as the Waldemar A. Nielsen Chair in Philanthropy. Smith has also held appointments at Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis. He has published a wide variety of material, including two books in 2010, relating to his interests in nonprofit and public management, public policy, and social services. He has been a member of APSA for more than a quarter of a century; he was the organizer and chair of a panel on nonprofit advocacy for the 2011 APSA Annual Meeting in Seattle.

Smith received his PhD from MIT and also holds a Master of Social Work. He has received research support from several foundations, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Pew Foundation, Lilly Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Smith has served on numerous professional committees and is a past president of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). He currently sits on several editorial boards and is a former editor of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

Hartwig Retires from Arkansas

Charles Hartwig retired in December from the department of political science at Arkansas State University, where he had taught since 1973. He received his PhD from the University of Kentucky; his research has principally focused on African politics and international organizations. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia and was later a Fulbright exchange professor at Cuttington University in that country. Following the outbreak of Liberia's civil war, he developed an interest in international peacekeeping efforts. Before launching his career in political science, Hartwig briefly served as a hospital administrator in the Kenyan highlands.

He is a former president of the Arkansas Political Science Association and has been a member of APSA for four decades. Hartwig is a former chair of his department and is the faculty advisor for ASU's Model UN program. He teaches courses on US foreign policy, African politics, and international relations. Hartwig is also an active member of his local Lions Club.

Dean Appointment for Montforti

Jessica Lavariega Monforti was named assistant dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas-Pan American. She received her PhD and MA degrees from The Ohio State University; her dissertation examined Cuban political participation in Miami. Her areas of expertise include public policy analysis, racial/gender politics, and survey research. She began her teaching career at Mercer University. From 2005–06 she was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Florida International University.

Lavariega Monforti has been a member of APSA since 1997 and is highly active in the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics organized section. She served on the Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession from 2005 through 2008. She has published in this journal and is the co-editor of Black and Latino/a Politics: Issues in Political Development in the United States. Her paper (with Renee Cramer), “Guarding Our Border with Gardasil: Immigrant Women and Physical Autonomy,” received the Western Political Science Association's 2011 Pi Sigma Alpha Award. She also received the Best Paper in Latino/a Politics at the 2008 WPSA, and the 2010 Texas Board of Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. Kristin Coyle, interim dean of UTPA praises Lavariega Monforti as a “model colleague” with “strong leadership abilities” to help move UTPA forward.

Brady Presents Holden Lecture

Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy and Class of 1941 Monroe Deutsch Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California-Berkeley, presented the Fifth Annual Holden Lecture at Jackson State University on November 10, 2011. The lecture is named in honor of Matthew Holden, Jr., Wepner Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Illinois in Springfield. In previous years, the lecture has been presented by Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University; Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University; Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stolz Professor of the Social Sciences and Economics at Brown University; and Dianne Pinderhughes, University of Notre Dame President's Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Africana Studies and Political Science. Drs. Holden, Brady, Katznelson, Pinderhughes, and Skocpol are all former presidents of the American Political Science Association.