PRESS RELEASE:
April 4, 2007

Contact:
Mary-Lea Cox
212.377.2700
E-mail: cox@ssrc.org 

Trade Economist Wins SSRC’s First Albert O. Hirschman Prize

Dani Rodrik Honored for Innovative Approach Linking Trade and Social Welfare

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) has announced that Dani Rodrik, a professor of international political economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, will become the first recipient of its newly instituted Albert O. Hirschman Prize.

“I’m delighted with the choice of Dani Rodrik as the first recipient of the SSRC’s new Albert Hirschman Prize,” said Craig Calhoun, president of the SSRC. “Professor Rodrik’s work on development economics exemplifies the kind of social science values and engagements evident in Albert Hirschman’s work, as well as the kind of necessary knowledge the Social Science Research Council aims to bring to public affairs.”

The Hirschman Prize is awarded annually by the Social Science Research Council to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to international, interdisciplinary social science research, theory, and public communication, in the tradition of Albert Hirschman. A professor at Columbia, Yale, Harvard and for many years at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Hirschman pioneered the field of economics and politics in developing countries, particularly Latin American development. Author of such classic works as The Strategy of Economic Development; Exit, Voice, and Loyalty; and The Passions and the Interests, Hirschman has long been acclaimed for his creative, interdisciplinary approach to academic research.

Rodrik was the unanimous choice of a selection committee consisting of current and former SSRC board members: Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley (Eichengreen currently serves on the board’s executive committee); Albert Fishlow, professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and director of Columbia’s Institute of Latin American Studies as well as its Center for the Study of Brazil (Fishlow served on the SSRC board from 1991 to 1998); and Arminio Fraga, the founding director of the Rio de Janeiro based investment company, Gávea Investimentos, and a current member of the SSRC board.

“Professor Rodrik’s research is distinguished by analytical and empirical rigor, combined with a critical attitude toward policy orthodoxy,” said Eichengreen, who led the Hirschman Prize selection process from a field of 31 nominees. “While an economist by training, Rodrik takes a broad interdisciplinary view of problems of international trade and economic development, paying careful attention to their social, political, and historical dimensions—very much in the Hirschman tradition,” he noted.

“This is quite an unexpected honor, and quite a humbling one as well,” said Rodrik upon learning of the committee’s decision. “Albert Hirschman’s playful mind, unmatched erudition, and innumerable contributions to social science have long been an inspiration in my own work. He has set the standard that those of us who follow in his footsteps can only aspire to reach.”

On Nov. 1, 2007, Rodrik will deliver the annual Albert O. Hirschman Prize Lecture at a ceremony in New York City. The lecture will be published by the SSRC as part of its new Albert O. Hirschman Lecture Series as well as posted on the Council’s Web site. Rodrik will also receive an award of US$10,000.

About the Hirschman Prize:

The Albert O. Hirschman Prize is awarded annually by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to international, interdisciplinary social science research, theory, and public communication. Nominating letters should be sent to Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council, 810 7^th Ave., 31^st Floor, New York, NY 10019, or via e-mail to president@ssrc.org. The deadline for nominations for the 2008 prize is 15 November 2007.

About the Social Science Research Council

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) engages practitioners, policymakers, and academic researchers in all the social sciences and related professions, as well as in the humanities and natural sciences, on important public issues, with the goal of bringing necessary knowledge to public action.