Robert C. Lieberman (born September 26, 1964) is an American political scientist and the former provost of the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. A scholar of American political development, Lieberman focuses primarily on race and politics and the American welfare state.

Biography

Robert Charles Lieberman was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in 1964. He received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1986 and his Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1994.Rienzi, Greg
"One-on-one with Robert Lieberman, the new Johns Hopkins provost"
''JHU Gazette'', Baltimore, 1 October 2013. Retrieved on 15 May 2015. From 1994 to 2013 he taught at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he served as chairman of the international and public affairs department from 2007 to 2012 and interim dean of the

School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League univers ...

(SIPA) from 2012 to 2013. He was instrumental in recruiting leading faculty to SIPA, restructuring the curriculum, and convening an international conference on the future of global public policy education. In 2013, he was named the 14th provost of

, concurrently joining the faculty of the department of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the Johns Hopkins Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences on July 1, 2013. In this role, Lieberman was responsible for "promoting and coordinating the university’s teaching and research mission" across the university's nine academic divisions. He also had oversight for research at a university that for thirty-five years has led the country in higher education research spending. In August 2016 he stepped down as provost and was appointed Krieger-Eisenhower Professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Political Science. He now lives in Baltimore, Maryland in the Roland Park neighborhood with his family. His wife is Lauren Osborne, and their children include a son Benjamin and twins, Martha and Aaron.

Research

Lieberman has written extensively on American political development, social welfare policy, issues of race and politics in America, institutional racism, and the welfare state. He has received support from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

, the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972, through a gift from the W ...

, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, and awards such as the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...

’s Leonard D. White Award, the

Social Science History Association Social Science History Association was formed in 1972 and brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history. The Social Science History Association's core purpose is: "To bring together members of various disciplines ...

’s President’s Book Award,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

’s Thomas J. Wilson Prize, and

’s Lionel Trilling Book Award. ;Books * 1998, ''Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State''. Harvard University Press. * 2005, ''Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective''. Princeton University Press. Winner of the 2006 Best Book on Public Policy Award, Race, Ethnicity and Politics Section of the

* 2009, ''Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis''. with Desmond King, Gretchen Ritter, and Laurence Whitehead, Johns Hopkins University Press. * 2013, "Beyond Discrimination: Racial Inequality in a Postracist Era," with Fredrick C. Harris * 2016, "The Oxford Handbook of American Political Development," with Richard M. Valelly and Suzanne Mettler ;Highly Cited Articles * 2000, with Greg M. Shaw, ''Looking inward, looking outward: The politics of state welfare innovation under devolution'', in: ''Political Research Quarterly''. Vol. 53, nº 2, 215–240. * 2001, with John S. Lapinski, ''American federalism, race and the administration of welfare'', in: ''British Journal of Political Science''. Vol. 31, nº 2, 303–329. * 2002, 'Ideas, institutions, and political order: Explaining political change'', in: ''American Political Science Review''. Vol. 96, nº 4, 697-712. * 2002, ''Weak state, strong policy: Paradoxes of race policy in the United States, Great Britain, and France'', in: ''Studies in American Political Development''. Vol. 16, nº 2, 138-161. * 2009, with Desmond King, ''Ironies of state building: A comparative perspective on the American state'', in: ''World Politics''. Vol. 61, nº 3, 547-588. * 2015, with Fredrick C. Harris, ''Racial Inequality After Racism: How Institutions Hold Back African Americans'', in: ''Foreign Affairs''. Vol 94, nº 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieberman, Robert C. 1964 births Living people Scientists from Boston American political scientists Yale University alumni Harvard University alumni Columbia University faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Columbia School of International and Public Affairs faculty Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni