Graduate School Dean Honored by MPSA Women’s Caucus

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The Midwest Political Science Association’s Women’s Caucus has honored Paula D. McClain, dean of The Graduate School, with the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award.

McClain was honored during the MPSA’s annual conference in Chicago in April. In addition to the award, the Women’s Caucus held a panel in her honor. Kerry L. Haynie, an associate professor of political science, participated in the panel.

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McClain, who earned a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in political science from Howard University, joined the Duke faculty in 2000 and became dean and vice provost in 2012. In addition to her administrative posts, she is also a professor of political science and public policy. Her primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics. She has published articles in numerous journals and written three books.

One of those books—Race, Place and risk: Black Homicide in Urban America—won the National Conference of Black Political Scientists’ 1995 Best Book Award for a previously published book that has made a substantial and continuing contribution. Another book—“Can We All Get Along?” Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics—received the Award for Outstanding Scholarship on the Subject of Intolerance from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. McClain’s most recent book, American Government in Black and White, was named the best textbook published in 2010 on the topics of race, ethnicity, and politics by the American Political Science Association.

McClain served as MPSA president in 2015-2016 and recently finished a one-year term as past president. The MPSA is second only to the American Political Science Association as the most prestigious academic organization in the discipline. In 2014, McClain was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.