National Academy of Sciences Elects Daniel Nagin as Official Member

On April 29 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced the election of Daniel S. Nagin(opens in new window), Lester Hamburg University Professor Of Public Policy And Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, as an official member of the organization.

The award recognizes distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership in the NAS is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.

In his work, Nagin focuses on the evolution of criminal and antisocial behaviors, the deterrent effect of criminal and noncriminal penalties on illegal behaviors, and the development of statistical methods for analyzing longitudinal data.

Founded in 1863, the NAS provides independent, objective advice to inform policy with evidence, spark progress and innovation, and confronts challenging issues for the benefit of society. Through its National Research Council, it provides independent, trustworthy advice and facilitates solutions to complex challenges by mobilizing expertise, practice and knowledge in science, engineering and medicine.

“I am deeply honored to be elected to the Academy,” Nagin said. “It is truly humbling to be elected to an institution whose members serve as advisers to the nation.”

The NAS honor is just the latest in a series of honors for Nagin. In 2006, he received the Edwin Sutherland Award and in 2014, he received the Stockholm Prize for Criminology. In 2017, he received the NAS’s Award for Scientific Reviewing. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the American Society for the Advancement of Science. He is also an Associate of the National Research Council and recently served as the co-editor of Criminology & Public Policy. He recently received the esteemed American Society of Criminology’s August Vollmer Award.

Nagin has published more than 200 articles that have been cited more than 71,000 times, including in American Economic Review, American Sociological Review, Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Journal of Sociology, Archives of General Psychiatry, Criminology, Child Development, Demography, Psychological Methodology, Law & Society Review, Crime and Justice Annual Review, Operations Research, and Stanford Law Review. He is also the author of Group-based Modeling of Development (Harvard University Press, 2005).

Nagin, one of the foremost experts in his field, received his Ph.D. in 1976 from what is now Heinz College. He has served as Heinz College’s Associate Dean of Faculty since 2006. He received Carnegie Mellon’s Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award in 2015. In addition to his professorship at Carnegie Mellon, Nagin is a Max Planck Institutes Law Fellow.

“All of us at Carnegie Mellon join together in recognizing Daniel Nagin for this latest honor,” said Ramayya Krishnan(opens in new window), dean of Heinz College. “It is such a fitting achievement, highlighting his career-long efforts to bring attention to crucial issues related to criminal behavior.”

Honorees will be formerly inducted next April in a ceremony at NAS’s annual meeting.