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Brookings scholars Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill make history as the first joint recipients of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize

Brookings scholars Haskins and Sawhill make history as the first joint recipients of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize

Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, two Brookings experts whose collaboration was instrumental in establishing the Brookings Center on Children and Families (CCF), were recently jointly awarded the 2016 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize from the American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS).

Named after the late senator and renowned sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the prize is awarded to a leading policymaker, social scientist, or public intellectual whose career focuses on advancing the public good through social science. Haskins and Sawhill are the first recipients ever to be awarded jointly, a testament to their bipartisan approach to addressing poverty, inequality, and opportunity in the U.S.

In a statement about the 2016 award, AAPSS President Ken Prewitt praised Haskins and Sawhill for their commitment  to evidence-based policies that support child development and strong families, and New York Times reporter Jason DeParle extolled their ability to bridge—and even transcend—partisan divides. “As other Washington institutions grew more ideologically entrenched, they modeled a partnership that defied labels other than ‘indispensable,’” said DeParle.

In addition to their work for CCF, Haskins and Sawhill serve as joint editors of The Future of Children, a policy journal that tackles issues that impact children and families, and co-direct the Budgeting for National Priorities project at Brookings. The two also co-wrote a book, Creating an Opportunity Society and countless other reports, articles, and op-eds. Drawing from these works, AAPSS lauded Haskins and Sawhill’s commitment to keeping an honest, data-rich analysis at the heart of their research and work.

In being awarded the prestigious Moynihan Prize, Haskins and Sawhill join the ranks of other current or past Brookings scholars including Alice Rivlin (recipient of the inaugural prize), Rebecca Blank, and William Julius Wilson along with numerous other distinguished public servants and scholars.

Learn more about the


Center on Children and Families


, and read the latest from


Ron Haskins here


and


Isabel Sawhill here


.

Want to learn more about the award’s namesake? Read Governance Studies Senior Fellow and historian Steve Hess’s account of Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s time in the Nixon White House in his book “The Professor and the President.”