Awards & Fellowships

David N. Kershaw Award

The David N. Kershaw Award and Prize was established to honor persons who, before the age of 40, have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management. It is among the most prestigious and largest awards recognizing contributions to public policy and social science, funded by a memorial endowment established after Kershaw’s death and managed by independent trustees.

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Excellence, Equity, and Inclusion Fellowship

Since 2016, this fellowship (formerly the Equity and Inclusion Fellowship) has supported over 300 researchers pursuing education and careers in public policy. It was renamed in 2026 to the Excellence, Equity, and Inclusion (EEI) Fellowship to better reflect the academic excellence and leadership of recipients. The program is shifting from a one-year to a two-year cohort model and will be limited to a total of 26 recipients across its three tracks to foster deeper community and engagement.

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Steven D. Gold Award

Approved by APPAM in 1997, this award memorializes Steve Gold, an active member of APPAM, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Tax Association, whose career and life were cut short by illness. It is the only APPAM award also co-sponsored by other associations in the public policy and management field, with the three sponsoring organizations rotating responsibility for chairing the selection committee each year.

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JPAM Refereeing Awards

Objective and careful review service by referees is perhaps the most critical component of the scientific review process. At the same time, it is often a thankless job, so many of us continue to accept review invitations out of a sense of professional duty and nothing else. I believe it is important to recognize the importance of refereeing service and to promote efficient and high-quality reviews.

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Peter H. Rossi Award

The Rossi Award honors the lifetime achievements of sociologist Peter H. Rossi (1921-2006), best known for his research on American homelessness and the effectiveness of social programs. The APPAM Policy Council approved the award on April 8, 2005, and it is funded through an endowment managed by the University System of Maryland Foundation. Awards have been given every two years since 2011.

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PhD Dissertation Award

APPAM established this award to recognize emergent scholars by honoring the best PhD dissertation in public policy and management. The award has been given annually for decades, with recipients going on to faculty positions at leading research institutions.

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Policy Field Distinguished Contribution Award

The Policy Field Distinguished Contribution Award is meant to honor persons who have made significant and long-term contributions to the development of and growth of public policy analysis and management as a field.

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Raymond Vernon Memorial Award

Since 1985, APPAM has honored the legacy of Raymond Vernon, a contributor to the Marshall Plan, a pioneer of quantitative stock market analysis, a faculty member at Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School, and the founding editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM). The award recognizes excellence in research by selecting an outstanding article published in the current volume of JPAM.

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William Spriggs Memorial Award

This award honors William Spriggs, former chief economist of the AFL-CIO and a professor at Howard University, who passed away in June 2023 at age 68. Spriggs dedicated his career to advancing equity, fairness, and inclusion through social insurance and challenged the economics profession to better understand how history and policy have shaped racial categories and disparities.

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World Citizen Prize in Environmental Performance

Granted by David and Joy K. Peyton and first awarded at APPAM’s 2019 conference in Denver, this prize recognizes research that identifies pathways to achieve measurable, as-yet unrealized gains in environmental performance, particularly reductions in consumption and waste. Research may focus on the United States or other countries.

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