Janet Gornick, the director of the Stone Center and a professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Graduate Center, CUNY, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society and independent research center that seeks to advance the common good.
The academy, founded in 1780, honors accomplished individuals across 31 areas of expertise that advance and apply knowledge that addresses societal challenges. “We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity, and courage required to reach new heights,” David Oxtoby, president of the academy, said in his announcement of the new members.
Along with Gornick, two other Graduate Center scholars were elected this year: Distinguished Professor Emeritus Talal Asad (Anthropology, Middle Eastern Studies) and alumna Eva Feder Kittay (Ph.D. ’78, Philosophy). “It is an honor to congratulate the three distinguished Graduate Center scholars on their election to this esteemed institution,” Graduate Center Interim President Joshua C. Brumberg told the GC. “Through their research and writing, they advocate for a more equitable and humane society, and as educators, they have inspired students to follow their lead.”
“Professors Gornick, Asad, and Kittay have pushed the boundaries of their chosen fields; their scholarship has transcended the sphere of academia, advancing conversations around human rights, disability rights, inequality, public policy, feminism, religion, ethics, and more,” Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez told the Graduate Center. “CUNY congratulates these three renowned scholars on their election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a richly deserved acknowledgment of the scope, heft, and impact of their work.”
Gornick’s research focuses on social welfare policies and how they impact an array of socio-economic inequalities, including gender disparities in the labor market and income and wealth inequality. She was elected to the academy’s Public Affairs and Public Policy section. “I’m excited by many lines of basic social science research, but it’s public policy — both carrying out research and advising policymakers — that has long been at the heart of my work,” Gornick told the Graduate Center. “As I look back over my three decades as a CUNY professor, I am most proud that I’ve been able to continue working on empirical research and to teach a diversity of classes, while also leading two organizations that have enabled many others to carry out research on the causes, nature, and consequences of socio-economic inequality.”
She has served as the Stone Center’s director since its foundation in 2016, and holds the inaugural James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Distinguished Chair in Socio-Economic Inequality at the Graduate Center. From 2006 to 2016, she served as director of LIS (formerly the Luxembourg Income Study), a cross-national data archive and research center located in Luxembourg, with a satellite office at the Graduate Center.
Gornick is the co-author or co-editor of four books: Families That Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment; Gender Equality: Transforming Family Divisions of Labor; Income Inequality: Economic Disparities and the Middle Class in Affluent Countries; and Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth. Her articles on gender inequality, employment, and social policy have been published in many journals, and she serves on several advisory and editorial boards. Her research has received generous support from the Russell Sage Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Governors’ Association, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Bank.
In 2023, Stockholm University awarded Gornick an honorary doctorate in recognition of her research on socio-economic inequality.
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