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

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. A scholar of

American political development American political development (often abbreviated as APD) is a subfield of political science that studies the historical development of politics in the United States. In American political science departments, it is considered a subfield within Am ...

, Lieberman focuses primarily on race and politics and the American welfare state.

Biography

Robert Charles Lieberman was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, in 1964. He received his B.A. degree from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1986 and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

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 (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 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 (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, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

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 National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

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

, the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan 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 We ...

, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, and awards such as the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...

’s Leonard D. White Award, the

Social Science History Association The Social Science History Association, formed in 1976, brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history. : Its statement of purpose is: "To bring together members of various disciplines (including economics, sociolo ...

’s President’s Book Award,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

’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 Gretchen Ritter is an American political scientist and academic administrator who is the current vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer of Syracuse University. She was previously the executive dean and vice provost of Ohio State Uni ...

, 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 Suzanne Mettler is an American political scientist and author, known for her research about the way Americans view and respond to the government in their lives, and helping to stimulate the study of American political development. Education and ...

;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 People 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