Dr. Katherine Michelmore Wins 24th David N. Kershaw Award

Congratulations to Katherine Michelmore, associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School, on her selection as the 2024 recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. Dr. Michelmore was chosen for her leading scholarship on the social safety net, education policy, and labor economics. She will give the annual Kershaw lecture and be honored at the 2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference in National Harbor, Maryland this November.

The David N. Kershaw Award and Prize is among the largest awards offered in recognition of outstanding work in public policy research and social science. Dr. Michelmore received the award for her research on the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has been instrumental in helping policymakers understand its impact, and her evaluations of interventions new approaches to help low-income students access higher education.

As the 24th winner of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, Dr. Michelmore joins a distinguished group of professionals under the age of 40 who have made significant contributions to the field of public policy. David Kershaw, for whom the award is named, was the first president of Mathematica. In the spring of 1979, he helped guide the establishment of APPAM—and Mathematica’s principal role within it—before his death from cancer later that year at the age of 37. The award in his memory was created in 1983 and has since been jointly administered by Mathematica and APPAM.

Dr. Michelmore is also a research associate at NBER and serves on a National Academy of Science committee studying recent tax credit expansions. Previously, she was assistant professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Michelmore completed her Ph.D. in policy analysis and management at Cornell University. She holds a B.A. in economics and psychology from Wesleyan University.

Her recent publications include:

“The Effect of EITC Exposure in Childhood on Marriage and Early Childbearing” (with Leonard Lopoo) Forthcoming, Demography.
“Tots and Teens: How Does Child’s Age Influence Maternal Labor Supply and Child Care Response to the Earned Income Tax Credit?” (with Natasha Pilkauskas) Forthcoming, Journal of Labor Economics. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/711383
“Exposure to the Earned Income Tax Credit in Early Childhood and Family Wealth” 2021. (with Leonard Lopoo). RSF: Journal of the Social Sciences 7(3): 196-215. https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/3/196
“Closing the Gap: The Effect of Reducing Complexity and Uncertainty in College Pricing on the Choices of Low-Income Students” 2021. (with Susan Dynarski, CJ Libassi, and Stephanie Owen*) American Economic Review 111(6): 1721–1756. (lead article) https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20200451