2025-2026 Awards Committees, Presidents and Executive Politics Section
Richard E. Neustadt Award
Award Description: The Richard E. Neustadt Award will be given for the best book on executive politics published during 2025. PEP Bylaws require that a hard copy of nominated books be sent to the committee members for award consideration.
Nomination Deadline: February 2, 2026
Award Committee:
Kenneth Lowande (Chair), University of Michigan, lowande@umich.edu
Jeffrey Crouch, American University, crouch@american.edu
Lilly Goren, Carroll University, lgoren@carrollu.edu
Karen Hult, Virginia Tech, khult@vt.edu
Brandon Rottinghaus, University of Houston, bjrottin@central.uh.edu
George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award
Award Description: The George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award is given for the best dissertation in presidency research completed and accepted during the previous two calendar years (January 1, 2024– December 31, 2025). The recipient will receive a $250 award.
Nomination Deadline: February 20, 2026
Award Committee:
Julian Michel (Chair), Hong Kong Baptist University, julianmichel@ucla.edu
Julia Azari, Marquette University, julia.azari@marquette.edu
Zak Taylor, Georgia Institute of Technology, mzak@gatech.edu
Founders Award for Best Graduate Student Paper
Award Description: The Founders Award honoring Thomas Cronin will be given for the best paper on executive politics presented by a Graduate Student at either the preceding year’s APSA annual meeting or at any of the regional meetings in 2025.
Nomination Deadline: March 2, 2026
Award Committee:
Benjamin Goehring (Chair), University of Michigan, bengoehr@umich.edu
MaryAnne Borelli, Connecticut College, mabor@conncoll.edu
Nancy Kassop, SUNY-New Paltz, kassopm@@newpaltz.edu
Founders Best Paper Award By a Ph.D. Holding Scholar
Award Description: The Founders Award honoring Dom Bonafede will be given for the best paper on executive politics authored by a PhD – holding scholar at the previous year’s (2025) APSA annual meeting.
Nomination Deadline: March 2, 2026
Award Committee:
Christopher Carter (Chair), University of Virginia, christopher.carter@virginia.edu
Anna Callis, Tulane University, acallis@tulane.edu
John Dearborn, Vanderbilt University, john.a.dearborn@vanderbilt.edu
Justin Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University, jvaughn@coastal.edu
Emerging Scholar Award
Award Description: An Emerging Scholar Award will be given to an early career scholar (10 years from date of award of PhD) that has made a contribution to the intellectual development of the fields of presidency and executive politics. Letters of nomination should provide a rationale for the work receiving the award.
Nomination Deadline: February 20, 2026
Award Committee:
Brandice Canes-Wrone (Chair), Stanford University, bcwrone@stanford.edu
Irwin Morris, North Carolina State University, ilmorri2@ncsu.edu
James Pfiffner, George Mason University, pfiffner@gmu.edu
Legacy Award
Award Description: A Legacy Award will be given to a living author for a book, essay, or article, published at least 10 years prior to the award year, that has made a continuing contribution to the intellectual development of the fields of presidency and executive politics. Letters of nomination should provide a rationale for the work receiving the award.
Nomination Deadline: February 2, 2026
Award Committee:
David Lewis (Chair), Vanderbilt University, david.lewis@vanderbilt.edu
Meena Bose, Hofstra University, meena.bose@hofstra.edu
Amnon Cavari, Reichman University, cavari@runi.ac.il
Anne Pluta, Rowan University, pluta@rowan.edu