Seven years after he moved to Northwestern from the University of Michigan,
economist Greg Duncan was named
Edwina S. Tarry Professor at Northwestern’s School of Education and
Social Policy (SESP). Before a packed crowd of well-wishers at his investiture on May 6, Duncan
paid tribute to the “unique blend of development and economics”
in the school’s Human Development and Social Policy program that
he has helped to shape during his tenure at Northwestern. Duncan is one of the nation’s leading experts on poverty and child
development. In addition to his permanent appointment at IPR, he has directed
the Joint Center for Poverty Research (JCPR) for the past two years and
was deputy director for the three years prior. Much of the credit for JCPR’s success can be attributed to Duncan,
who has worked tirelessly in steering JCPR, organizing conferences, conducting
congressional and local briefings, nurturing young scholars, and conducting
several large research projects on the effects of poverty and welfare
reform on children and families. Duncan’s classic 1984 book Years of Poverty, Years of Plenty
introduced many social scientists and policy analysts to the dynamic nature
of socioeconomic status, poverty, and welfare use. In the past few years,
Duncan has co-edited Neighborhood Poverty (1997), Consequences
of Growing Up Poor (1997), and most recently, For Better and For
Worse: Welfare Reform and the Well-Being of Children and Families
(2001) with IPR and SESP colleague P.
Lindsay Chase-Lansdale. Among the many national networks and committees on which he serves, Duncan
was a member of a prestigious interdisciplinary committee of the National
Research Council that produced the book From Neurons to Neighborhoods:
The Science of Early Childhood (2000). It concluded that the window
for brain development opens well before birth, and continues throughout
life. Development is influenced both by nature and nurture, especially
by nurturing adults. Prior to his arrival at Northwestern, Duncan was a distinguished research
scientist at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center,
where he helped develop and then directed the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.
Duncan was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. In 1999 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex. |
