Career & Personal Life

Career

The Khaldun Award Citation — Theda Skocpol
Comparative Historical Sociology Section, American Sociological Association. American Sociological Association Khaldun Award Award presented August 2024 [PDF]
Categories: Career & Personal Life

Interviews & Profiles

Theda Skocpol in Conversation with Edwin Amenta on Sociology, Political Science, Higher Education, and U.S. Politics
Edwin Amenta; Theda Skocpol. Sociologica Vol. 19, No. 3 (2025); Submitted: November 12, 2025; Published: December 22, 2025 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Interview/Profile

Fifteen Questions: Theda Skocpol on the Election, the Ivory Tower, and the New England Patriots
Jem K. Williams. The Harvard Crimson November 22, 2024 [Online Link]
Categories: Interview/Profile

Kevin McCarthy’s Downfall Is the Culmination of the Tea Party
Ian Ward. POLITICO October 5, 2023 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and Interview/Profile

Stop the Steal’ Is a Metaphor (Interview with Theda Skocpol)
Elaine Godfrey. The Atlantic August 12, 2022 [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and Interview/Profile

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TS at Oxford Hon Degree with husband Bill and son Michael

Awards & Honors

Major Prizes and Career Honors

2024 · Khaldun Award, Comparative-Historical Sociology Section, American Sociological Association, recognizing a lifetime of outstanding contributions to comparative-historical sociology
2023 · James Madison Award, American Political Science Association, presented every three years for a distinguished scholarly contribution to political science
2022 · Distinguished Alumni Award, Michigan State University
2019 · The Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association established the Theda Skocpol Prize for Emerging Scholars in her honor
2018 · Distinguished Career in Political Sociology Award (first recipient), Section on Political Sociology, American Sociological Association
2016 · Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize, International Political Science Association
2010 · Excellence in Mentoring Award, Public Policy Section, American Political Science Association
2007 · Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, Skytte Foundation, Uppsala University
1994 · Graduate Society Medal, Radcliffe Alumnae Association
1990 · John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship

Book and Article Awards

2013 · Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award, Public Policy Section, American Political Science Association, for Protecting Soldiers and Mothers
2007 · Oliver Cromwell Cox Award, Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities, American Sociological Association, for What a Mighty Power We Can Be (with Ariane Liazos and Marshall Ganz)
2004 · J. David Greenstone Award, Politics and History Section, American Political Science Association, for Diminished Democracy
1993 · Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award, American Political Science Association, for Protecting Soldiers and Mothers. The book also received the J. David Greenstone Award, the Allan Sharlin Memorial Award of the Social Science History Association, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award of Phi Beta Kappa, and the Best Book Award (co-winner) of the Political Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association
1986 · Theory Prize, Theory Section, American Sociological Association, for “Why Not Equal Protection?”
1980 · Award for a Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship, American Sociological Association, for States and Social Revolutions
1979 · C. Wright Mills Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems, for States and Social Revolutions

Honorary Degrees

2022 · University of Oxford
2019 · Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
2015 · Columbia University
2004 · Amherst College
2002 · Northwestern University
1997 · Michigan State University (Honorary Doctor of Science)

Elected Memberships and Leadership

2023 · International Fellow, British Academy
2008 · National Academy of Sciences
2006 · American Philosophical Society
2002-03 · President, American Political Science Association
1996 · President, Social Science History Association
1994 · Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Personal Life

Outside her scholarship, Theda Skocpol is a devoted New England Patriots fan and a collector of badges and ribbons from early American fraternal groups.

Braking for Badges
Jill Radsken. Harvard Gazette Harvard Staff Writer; September 20, 2022 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Personal Life

Talking Patriots with Harvard Political Scientist and Superfan Theda Skocpol
Colleen Walsh. Harvard Gazette Harvard Staff Writer; January 17, 2019 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Personal Life

Theda Skocpol's cat Ulyssa beside framed fraternal ribbons — Her cat, Ulyssa, with ribbons from the Maine chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Photo: Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer

Theda Skocpol at Oxford with her husband Bill and son Michael — At Oxford for her honorary degree in 2022, with her husband, Bill, and son, Michael.

Theda Skocpol