Executive Officers
Working social scientists, the SSRC’s executive officers inspire and manage programming and operations with the counsel and oversight of the Board of Directors.
Current Executive Officers
A History of Leadership
1923–27
Charles E. Merriam
(chairman)
1927–29
Wesley C. Mitchell
(chairman)
1927–31
Robert S. Lynd
(permanent secretary)
1929–31
Edwin B. Wilson
(president)
1931–32
Robert S. Woodworth
(president)
1931–45
Robert T. Crane
(permanent secretary, 1931–32; executive director, 1932–45)
1945–48
Donald Young
(executive director, 1945–47; president, 1948)
1948–68
Pendleton Herring
(president)
1948–70
Paul Webbink
(vice president)
1966–71
Henry W. Riecken
(vice president, 1966–68; president, 1969–71)
1971–72
Ralph W. Tyler
(acting president)
1972–79
Eleanor Bernert Sheldon
(president)
1973–89
David L. Sills
(executive associate)
1974–78
David Jenness
(executive associate)
1979–85
Kenneth Prewitt
(president)
1985–86
Francis X. Sutton
(interim president)
1986–89
Frederic E. Wakeman Jr.
(president)
1988–89
David L. Szanton
(executive associate)
1988–89
Richard C. Rockwell
(executive associate)
1989–95
David L. Featherman
(president)
1990–95
Stanley J. Heginbotham
(vice president)
1995–98
Kenneth Prewitt
(president)
1997–2019
Mary Byrne McDonnell
(executive program director, 1997–99; executive director, 1999–2018;
senior vice president for strategic learning and special initiatives, 2018-2019)
1998–99
Orville (Bert) Brim Jr.
(interim president)
1999–2012
Craig Calhoun
(president)
2012–2017
Ira Katznelson
(president)
2015–present
Ronald Kassimir
(executive program director, 2015-2018; vice president of programs, 2018-present)
2017–2021
Alondra Nelson
(president)
2019–present
Fred Palm
(vice president of administration and operations)
2021-Present
Anna Harvey
(president)