Zachary Parolin, Professor of Social Policy, Inequality, and Opportunity at the University of Oxford, will receive the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize for his public policy contributions toward reducing hardship and expanding opportunity. Parolin, who also serves as director of the Economics, Inequality, and Opportunity program at INET Oxford and as a professorial fellow at Nuffield College, will be recognized at the upcoming 2025 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference. As the 25th recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, Parolin will deliver the Kershaw Lecture during the conference.
The David N. Kershaw Award recognizes professionals who make significant contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management before the age of 40. Award recipients receive a cash prize. The award was named for David N. Kershaw, the first president of Mathematica, who helped guide the establishment of APPAM before his death from cancer at age 37. Created in 1983 in his memory, the award is jointly administered by Mathematica and APPAM.
"Zach exemplifies the spirit of the David N. Kershaw Award through his rigorous research on expanding opportunity," said Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer of Mathematica. "His work deepens our understanding of the challenges facing families, shows how policy can tangibly improve people’s lives, and enriches national policy discussions."
Parolin’s research covers a wide variety of U.S. public policy on hardship and opportunity: the effects of the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion on food hardship, family consumption patterns, and parents’ mental health; the role of cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; the interaction of safety net programs and the optimal replacement rate of Unemployment Insurance; and how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps reduce extreme poverty.
Parolin’s scholarship appears in leading journals on public policy, economics, sociology, demography, and industrial relations.
"The University of Oxford is honored to recognize Professor Zachary Parolin as the 2025 recipient of the Kershaw Award. His exemplary achievements, professional excellence, and sustained contributions reflect the highest standards of the policy sciences,” said Kenneth Nelson, head of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford. “Professor Parolin has for many years produced new cutting-edge research on the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social mobility across the United States and the European Union. This research now has resulted in one of the most prestigious research awards in public policy."
Before joining Oxford, Parolin served as an assistant and then associate professor at Bocconi University in Milan and as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.