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 plaque.

Submission Procedures:

Nominations for the 2025 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 through this form no later than January 31, 2025. Questions, e-mail taeuberaward@popassoc.org.

2023 Irene B. Taeuber Award Winner

David E. Bloom, Harvard University

Past Award Recipients

  • 2023: David E. Bloom
  • 2021: Eileen Crimmins
  • 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