The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) has elected Celeste Watkins-Hayes as the 2025 Sara McLanahan Fellow, recognizing her outstanding contributions to social science research and her role in deepening public understanding of the human condition. Established in 2000, the AAPSS Fellows program recognizes scholars whose work advances the Academy’s mission to promote social science in the public interest. Reflecting the broad and interdisciplinary nature of the AAPSS, fellows include sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, and economists, as well as scholars and practitioners in communications, education, government, and public policy.
“I’m truly honored to be elected into this prestigious group. Their collective work has shaped academic fields, public policy debates, and the public understanding of some of the most important issues of our time,” Watkins-Hayes said.
Celeste Watkins-Hayes is the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She is an internationally recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS; poverty; and race, class, and gender studies.
Established in 1889, the American Academy of Political and Social Science promotes the use of social science in the public domain and in policymaking. Each year, the AAPSS invites a small group of outstanding scholars and public intellectuals to join its ranks as Fellows of the Academy. Watkins-Hayes and her fellow inductees will be honored at a celebratory ceremony in Washington, D.C. this fall.
