Annual Awards

The Irene B. Taeuber Award

Irene Taeuber was President of the Population Association (1953-54) and Vice-President of the IUSSP (1961-62). She was the first woman elected to both positions. Her scholarly production included sixteen books and monographs and some 250 articles. Her magnum opus was The Population of Japan published in 1958. For more than 20 years, she also prepared the annotated bibliographies published in Population Index. She did much to bring an international and comparative perspective to the emerging discipline of demography. Her scholarly work covered more than a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania.

The Irene B. Taeuber award is presented in recognition of an unusually original or important contribution to the scientific study of population or for an accumulated record of exceptionally sound and innovative research. It is presented every other year at the annual meeting of the Association and consists of a cash award and a certificate. 

The members of the committee are Rachel Margolis (Chair), University of Western OntarioVictor AgadjanianUniversity of California Los Angeles; Eileen Crimmins, University of Southern California; Kathleen Mullan Harris, Add Health - Carolina Population Center; David Lindstrom, Brown University.

Submission Procedures:

Nominations for the 2023 award should include a one-page summary of the nominee’s contributions and accomplishments; a selected list of the most important demographic positions the nominee has held, and his or her most significant publications or presentations (no longer than one page), and a copy of the nominee’s curriculum vitae. Nominees should exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct. Nominations should be submitted by e-mail to taeuberaward@popassoc.org no later than January 31, 2023.

2021 Irene B. Taeuber Award Winner

Eileen Crimmins

Past Award Recipients

  • 2019: Kathleen Mullan Harris
  • 2017: Jere Behrman
  • 2015: Peter F. McDonald, Sara S. McLanahan
  • 2013: Douglas S. Massey
  • 2011: Arland Thornton
  • 2009: Andrew J. Cherlin
  • 2007: T. Paul Schultz
  • 2005: Susan Cotts Watkins
  • 2003: Ron J. Lesthaeghe
  • 2001: James W. Vaupel
  • 1999: Ronald D. Lee
  • 1997: Gary S. Becker
  • 1995: Charles F. Westoff
  • 1993: Richard Easterlin
  • 1991: Otis Dudley Duncan
  • 1989: Ansley J. Coale
  • 1987: Norman B. Ryder
  • 1985: John C. Caldwell
  • 1983: Samuel Preston
  • 1981: Ronald Freedman
  • 1979: Kingsley Davis
  • 1977: Louis Henry