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Contact Congress About Proposed NIH, NSF Spending Levels

By PAA Web posted 23 days ago
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The PAA Office of Government Affairs has issued an action alert in response to proposed funding cuts to NIH and NSF. Take action here. Background On May 30, the Trump Administration began releasing more, albeit incomplete, details regarding federal agencies’ budget requests for Fiscal Year 2026. Needless to say, the President’s request, especially for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), is alarmingly low. The President’s request recommends NIH receive $27.5 billion, which is approximately an $18 billion cut or 41 percent below the agency’s FY 2025 funding level. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is ...

Fiscal Year 2026 Deliberations Begin: Raising the Stakes for NIH, NSF, and Federal Statistical Agencies

By PAA Web posted 29 days ago
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On May 30, the Trump Administration began releasing more, albeit incomplete, details regarding federal agencies’ budget requests for Fiscal Year 2026. The details could not come a moment too soon given the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been holding hearings for weeks, and the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Tom Cole (R-OK-4), has announced a schedule for considering or “marking up” all 12 of the funding bills this summer. The bills that support most of the federal agencies essential to the population sciences (Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill and Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations ...

New Executive Director Announcement

By PAA Web posted 05-27-2025
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We are delighted to announce that effective July 14, the PAA Executive Director will be Tristanne Staudt. She is currently the Executive Director of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), where she has demonstrated strong leadership over the past four years. She is very excited to take over the leadership of PAA. Tristanne emerged as the top candidate through a lengthy vetting process by both the Search Committee and Sterling Martin Associates, a recruitment firm that helped the committee with the search process. Our Search Committee spent the spring reviewing resumes and conducting multiple rounds of interviews, culminating in in-person ...

Government Affairs Update: FY 2026 Budget Details Emerge, NSF and Federal Surveys are DOGE Targets

By PAA Web posted 05-27-2025
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The month of May brought more alarming news from Washington, D.C., impacting federal scientific and statistical research agencies. Below are excerpts from the most recent newsletter issued by the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) , of which PAA is a governing member, regarding some of the major issues we are following. Please be assured that PAA is working independently and in collaboration with its coalition partners both publicly and behind-the-scenes to address these developments. What can you do to help? Respond to PAA Action Alerts—Building upon the success of PAA’s 2025 Advocacy Day in April, we will continue to urge PAA members ...

Congratulations to our Annual Awards Recipients

By PAA Web posted 05-20-2025
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PAA has a series of awards that are presented annually to extraordinary scholars in the population research field who meet the award criteria, exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct, and are selected by a committee of their peers. You can now view the recording of the PAA 2025 Awards Ceremony on our YouTube channel here . Congratulations to our Annual Awards recipients: Dorothy S. Thomas Award - Ralph Lawton , Harvard University "Early Life Infectious Disease Exposure, the 'Hygiene Hypothesis,' and Lifespan: Evidence from Hookworm" Irene B. Taeuber Award - Robert A. Moffitt , Johns Hopkins University Robert J. Lapham ...

2025 PAA Advocacy Day: A Record-Breaking Successful Day on Capitol Hill

By PAA Web posted 04-22-2025
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On April 10, in conjunction with the Population Association of America (PAA) 2025 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, PAA sponsored a large advocacy day in which over 100 scientists from 30 states participated in meetings with their congressional delegations. PAA sponsors a large advocacy day whenever its annual meeting is held in Washington, DC. The last two events, in 2016 and 2012, attracted over 80 individuals, making this year’s event truly record-breaking. Population scientists went to Capitol Hill to share examples of their federally funded research as well as to promote greater understanding of how data produced by federal statistical agencies are ...

Thank you for a valuable meeting

By PAA Web posted 04-21-2025
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It was wonderful to see so many of you in Washington earlier this month attending our Annual Meeting. Your dedication and active engagement is what makes the Annual Meeting such a valuable resource for our community. We regret that many of our colleagues in the federal government were unable to join us this year, which was a big loss to all of us. We wish them all the best in these uncertain times. We are also extremely sorry for the difficulties our international colleagues faced this year in traveling to the United States. We hope that travel becomes easier next year. We are deeply grateful to the many PAA members who served on our ...

Announcing the 2025 PAA Election Slate of Nominees

By PAA Web posted 04-04-2025
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The Nominations Committee is pleased to put forward the following slate for the 2025 PAA Election. The Nominations Committee includes Jenna Nobles, University of California, Berkeley, Bussarawan “Puk” Teerawichitchainan, National University of Singapore, and Jennifer Van Hook, Pennsylvania State University. As stated in Article IV of the PAA By-Laws , this slate of nominees is now communicated to the members of the Association. Additional nominations may be made within 60 days of the date of this publication or other notice by petition signed by at least 10 members and submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer. PAA members will receive a ballot in their e-mail ...

Mutual support in these challenging times

By PAA Web posted 03-20-2025
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It seems that every day brings new challenges and threats to our working environments and the research that we have dedicated ourselves to advancing. Now, more than ever, we need each other to provide mutual support and highlight the importance of and to advance population research. To that end, we have important work to do at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America in Washington, DC (April 10-13). This includes a record number of meetings with legislators during our Advocacy Day on the Hill, and a robust set of scientific sessions covering a wide range of topics of interest to our members. There are meaningful ways that you can ...

Announcing the Next Editors of Demography

By PAA Web posted 03-05-2025
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PAA is excited to announce the next co-Editors of Demography are Hedwig Lee, M. Giovanna Merli and Marcos A. Rangel at Duke University. The new team will take over leadership on July 1, 2025. In their own words: “We are honored by the trust that the PAA Board and Publications Committee have placed in us. The journal is in excellent shape, thanks to Sara Curran’s leadership, her stewardship in advancing open access publishing, and the wealth of knowledge she has shared with our team. Moving forward, our goals are to: (1) maintain the core topics of demography, (2) continue to highlight impactful research in social, economic, and health ...

Special message from PAA President Irma Elo

By PAA Web posted 02-27-2025
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Please see this video message from PAA President Irma Elo on how PAA is responding to the uncertainty in our government. Ways you can help… Action Alerts Stayed tuned to your e-mail for alerts of when and how to contact your Congressional representative. See PAA Action Alerts Share Your Terminated/Suspended Federal Grants To be most effective in our responses, we need reliable, timely information, especially as it pertains to awards and projects impacted by the implementation of current Executive Orders. Use this form to share information about your terminated, suspended, or impacted federal awards. The information entered cannot ...

Committed to the Important Research and Training Population Scientists Conduct

By PAA Web posted 12-02-2024
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The results of the 2024 presidential and congressional elections usher in a new era of uncertainty for not only our field, but also for the Federal scientific research and statistical agencies. We are committed to working with the new Administration and Congress to ensure they understand the critically important research and training population scientists conduct to not only advance the nation’s scientific enterprise, but also to improve the public’s health and wellbeing. Likewise, we will be communicating with you about the implications of changes that the new Administration and Congress may pursue. Your engagement and participation in the PAA ...

Executive Director Announcement

By PAA Web posted 11-25-2024
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PAA’s Executive Director, Danielle Staudt, has informed us she will be leaving PAA for a new role in mid-January 2025. She has accepted the Executive Director role at TESOL International Association, the association for professionals engaged in English language teaching. Danielle joined PAA in 2014 and her visionary leadership has been instrumental in driving the association’s success. She led the implementation of PAA’s first-ever strategic plan, guided us through the COVID-19 pandemic, and orchestrated the addition of new programs and services for a variety of membership segments. Her innovative approach has paved the way for ...

In Memoriam: Susan Cotts Watkins

By PAA Web posted 10-30-2024
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Susan Cotts Watkins died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Santa Monica on August 26, 2024, at the age 85. Susan was an eminent demographer and sociologist and a leader in research on social networks, gender, fertility, and AIDS in Africa. She spent her professional life trying to unravel the mysteries of dramatic, widespread, and consequential changes in sex and death: first the historical declines in fertility in Europe and the U.S., then the global spread of fertility control, and finally the role of informal social networks in responses to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. She served as President of the Social Science History Association in 1993-4, Vice President ...

In Memoriam: Joe Potter

By PAA Web posted 10-08-2024
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On May 13th, the demographic community shared a profound loss when Professor Emeritus Joseph E. Potter passed away. Joe was an active member of the Population Association of America since he joined in 1974. He was an amazing mentor, chairing or co-chairing the dissertation committees for 27 UT doctoral students . Below, we share an obituary co-written by his former students and collaborators that was posted by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population . Joe’s contributions have unfolded in two distinct stages: a first that spanned several decades of research in Latin America motivated by concerns about population and development; ...

Search for Next Demography Editor

By PAA Web posted 10-08-2024
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The PAA Committee on Publications invites applications for the position of Editor of Demography . The new Editor, or team of co-Editors, will begin work in May 2025 and will edit the 2026-2028 volumes of the journal. Applicants are asked to submit a CV and a proposal for editing Demography by November 30, 2024 . Proposals should specify plans for constituting a team of deputy editors, possible or confirmed support (course reduction, staff, space, equipment, etc.) from the applicant’s home institution, and a brief statement (1-2 pages) of editorial goals and philosophy. PAA typically provides financial support to the editor's institutional home. Funding ...

Welcome Newly Elected PAA Officers and Members

By PAA Web posted 09-23-2024
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Congratulations to the new PAA officers and board and committee members. Thank you to the members who voted in this election, and a huge thank you to all candidates who were willing to participate. All terms begin January 1, 2025, except for the Nominations Committee (terms begin immediately). President-elect Marcy Carlson, University of Wisconsin - Madison Vice President-elect Sarah Burgard, University of Michigan Board of Directors Martha Bailey, University of California, Los Angeles Feinian Chen, Johns Hopkins University Jeremy Freese, Stanford University Fernando Riosmena, University of Texas – San Antonio ...

Update to Meeting Program and Schedule

By PAA Web posted 09-03-2024
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As we shared earlier this summer, PAA 2025 is scheduled for Thursday, April 10 to Sunday, April 13. This is a shift from our typical Wednesday – Saturday pattern and, most regrettably, conflicts with the beginning of Passover. This is a one-time anomaly due to the unforeseen closing of the original venue, Marriott Wardman Park, in late 2022. Our usual practice is to keep to the Wednesday – Saturday pattern and avoid spring religious holidays. For a more in-depth explanation, please read this previous post . We are making some changes to the PAA 2025 program to better facilitate participation for everyone: The Awards Ceremony will be held at the Welcome ...

2024 Rally for Medical Research

By PAA Web posted 08-27-2024
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The Population Association of America (PAA) and Association of Population Centers (APC) are proud to cosponsor the 2024 Rally for Medical Research . This annual event, first held in 2013, brings together an array of representatives from the scientific research and patient advocacy communities to promote funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). On one impactful day, participants meet with Members of Congress and their staff to urge them to prioritize funding for the NIH and to raise awareness about the research that the agency supports. In a quote posed on the Rally website, PAA President Jennifer Glass stated, “Recognizing the connection between ...

Important Scheduling Notice for PAA 2025

By PAA Web posted 07-29-2024
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We want to make sure you are aware that PAA 2025 is scheduled for Thursday, April 10 to Sunday, April 13 . This is a shift from our typical Wednesday – Saturday pattern. This is a one-time anomaly, and future meetings are scheduled to follow the typical pattern. We also recognize that these dates conflict with the beginning of Passover. We do our best to avoid all the spring religious holidays when scheduling the PAA Annual Meeting, but it was not possible in these circumstances. We recognize that this may be a burden for some members and may prevent participation in the annual meeting. For that, we are deeply sorry. The PAA 2025 meeting was originally contracted ...