Give Today to the Moynihan Prize

Sustain a legacy and support those working to use science for good public policymaking.

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”

— Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Looking Back: In this 2000 clip from CBS Sunday Morning, Senator Moynihan talks about how public service was the "highest calling" and his work to reduce unemployment and increase budget surplus.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan uniquely personified the intersection of scholarship and policymaking. His career in public service demonstrated how the use of science and evidence can enliven public discourse and improve the quality of policy debates among both Democrats and Republicans. Moynihan’s dedication to rigorous debate was a gift to the nation that helped our government advance the well-being of all Americans.

The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) awards the Moynihan Prize each year to a scholar, public servant, or public intellectual whose work reflects the values and legacy of the late senator. Specifically, we recognize those who use social research to improve public policy. Since its inception in 2007, the award has recognized an extraordinarily diverse group of honorees from across the political spectrum who, like Moynihan, use intellectual vibrancy and creativity to strengthen our government and nation.

In 2013, the AAPSS began hosting the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy alongside the award ceremony in Washington, DC, giving each year’s winner the opportunity to speak out about the world’s pressing challenges.

To secure the future of the Moynihan Prize and expand its impact, the AAPSS has begun a capital campaign to increase its financial stability and broaden its programmatic reach.

The capital campaign has been seeded with a $1 million matching donation. The first $1 million in donations will be matched 1:1, allowing your contribution to have twice the impact in supporting Moynihan’s legacy.

The funds will be used to:

Increase the cash value of the annual prize (currently $25,000), bringing greater prestige to the award itself, and to the work of the Prize’s winners

Develop a series of virtual and regional Moynihan Prize seminars aimed at amplifying the importance of public policy informed by facts and evidence and scholarship driven by the practical concerns that are faced by public servants

Establish a grant program to sponsor the work of emerging scholars who are pursuing work on the use of science in public policymaking, an understudied and often misunderstood field

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The Impact of Your Gift

“ The Academy recognizes the use of science and research to inform policy and try to make this a better world. ... It’s important that our politics become reconnected to what research has to tell us.” — Isabel Sawhil, 2016 Moynihan Prize Winner

Gifts to this capital campaign will go to AAPSS’s designated endowment for the Moynihan Prize,
helping us to secure the long-term viability of the Prize.

A larger Moynihan prize will:

• Support year-round programming that features Moynihan Prize winners and elevates discourse on public policy.

• Increase the cash value of the prize (currently $25,000).

• Modernize and advance communications and networking to generate more nominations and an ideologically diverse nominee pool dedicated to public service.

• Support the development of new and creative programming to elevate the work of those atthe nexus of scholarship and policy to empower the next generation of social scientists.

Click here to support the Moynihan Prize