Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 19, 2004|Volume 32, Number 22

Pictured are President Richard C. Levin with Professors William J. Foltz (center) and Ian Shapiro (right) at the event to announce Shapiros new post as YCIAS director. Foltz will serve as acting director of the Department of Political Science for the 2004-2005 academic year.

Political scientist Ian Shapiro
named YCIAS director

President Richard C. Levin has announced the appointment of Ian Shapiro as director of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS) for a term of five years, beginning July 1.

Shapiro is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Political Science and the current chair of the department.

"Professor Shapiro brings to his new position 20 years of experience in the University as scholar, teacher and senior administrator," Levin said.

A native of South Africa, Shapiro is an expert on distributive politics. His research interests include the methodologies of the social sciences, theories of justice and democracy, the relations between democracy and the distribution of income and wealth, and the prospects for sustainable democracy in the post-communist world and sub-Saharan Africa. He is the author of "The Evolution of Rights in Liberal Theory," "Political Criticism," "Democracy's Place," "Democratic Justice," "The Moral Foundations of Politics" and "The State of Democratic Theory." With his Yale colleague Donald Green, he co-authored "Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory." His works have been translated into nine languages. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has held fellowships at the Carnegie Corporation, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto.

Shapiro received his undergraduate degree in 1978 from Bristol University in England and earned three degrees from Yale -- M.Phil. (1980), Ph.D. (1983) and J.D. (1987). He joined Yale's faculty in 1984 and became a full professor in 1992.

After serving as director of the Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics for seven years, he became chair of the Department of Political Science in 1999. During his tenure in that post, Shapiro and his colleagues in political science made major changes in the structure of the department, leading to a number of new appointments and substantially increased course offerings.

"He has led the department with exceptional distinction," noted Levin.

In conjunction with Shapiro's appointment, Levin also announced that William Foltz, the H. J. Heinz Professor of African Studies and Political Science, has been named acting chair of the Department of Political Science for the 2004-2005 academic year, serving out the remainder of Shapiro's term, which was to have run through June 30, 2005.

Shapiro succeeds Gustav Ranis as YCIAS director, a position he has occupied for eight and a half years.

"He has encouraged YCIAS to become a vital hub of activity and vastly increased the resources available for its support," Levin said of Ranis' tenure. "For his tireless efforts and his university citizenship, we owe Gus Ranis an immense debt of gratitude."

YCIAS is the University's principal agency for encouraging and coordinating teaching and research on international affairs and societies and cultures around the world. The center seeks to make understanding the world outside the borders of the United States and America's role in the world an integral part of the liberal education and professional training at Yale. It provides opportunities for scholarly research and intellectual innovation; encourages interchange between faculty and students; brings international education and training to teaching professionals, the media, businesses and the community at large; sponsors more than 500 lectures, conferences, workshops and other activities each year; and produces a range of academic publications.

YCIAS includes 25 research and educational affiliates specializing in interdisciplinary and comparative studies of world regions. The center also administers six undergraduate majors and four master's degree programs enrolling roughly 250 students a year, and supports additional courses across the University.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale scientist on team that discovered new planetoid

Robert Blocker has been reappointed to third term . . .

Center to foster research on cerebral cortex

Bulldogs' Nate Lawrie busy preparing himself for NFL Draft

Political scientist Ian Shapiro named YCIAS director

Zbigniew Brzezinski . . . to present talk on campus

Magic, comic mayhem prevail in re-telling of old tale

'Digital Cops in a Virtual Environment' will explore . . .

Conference to consider 'The Future of Secularism'

Exhibit features works by artist who combined fact and fantasy . . .

NIDA director discusses complicated causes . . . of drug addiction

Castle Lectures to explore materialism in today's culture

English faculty to present staged reading of 'Pentecost'

'Enclave' to explore architectural aspects of ports of commerce

In Focus: Office of Cooperative Research