Samuel K. Allen Named Winner of John Heinz Dissertation Award

For Immediate Release: January 19, 2006
Contact: Simona Tudose, (203) 452-8097

Washington, DC—The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) is pleased to announce Samuel K. Allen as winner of the fourteenth annual John Heinz Dissertation Award. Allen wrote his dissertation, “The Economics and Politics of Workers’ Compensation: 1930-2000,” while an economics doctoral student at the University of Arizona. He is a post-doctoral fellow in economics at the University of California at Davis. Allen’s dissertation was nominated for the award by Price Fishback, the Frank and Clara Kramer Professor of Economic History and Labor Economics at the University of Arizona.

The award, which includes a $1,000 prize, will be presented during the National Academy of Social Insurance’s 18th Annual Conference on January 19–20, 2006, in Washington, DC. The Teresa and John Heinz Fund of the Heinz Family Foundation supports the award. Christine Bishop of Brandeis University will represent the selection committee in bestowing the Award at the conference, along with Jeffrey Lewis, President of the Heinz Family Foundation.

The John Heinz Dissertation Award is issued in honor of Senator John Heinz. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, he helped chart the Social Security rescue effort in 1983 and worked tirelessly to insulate the Social Security Trust Funds from the rest of the Federal budget. John Heinz was a leading expert in the Senate on private pensions, and health care and aging policy and was a member of the Academy’s Board of Advisors from the organization’s inception in 1986. Robert M. Ball, Founding Chair, said, “John Heinz was a leading proponent of Social Security with a true appreciation of the value of social insurance principles in developing public policy. He was a true supporter of the National Academy of Social Insurance and contributed importantly to its objectives. We are privileged to award this prize in his honor.”

NASI is accepting nominations for the 2007 Heinz Award. To obtain application forms and additional information, visit www.nasi.org, or contact Dan MacLauchlan at 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036-1904, (202) 452-8097, or by email at dmaclauchlan@nasi.org.

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The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance. Its mission is to promote understanding and informed policymaking on social insurance and related programs through research, public education, training, and the open exchange of ideas.