- Zachary Parolin announced as winner of the 2025 David N. Kershaw Award and Prize;
- Award recognises distinguished contribution to public policy analysis and management before the age of 40;
- Panel praises Professor Parolin's variety of U.S. public policy research on hardship and opportunity.
- Parolin to receive award in Seattle in November, and deliver the Kershaw Lecture.
Professor Zachary Parolin has been announced as the winner of the 2025 David N. Kershaw Award and Prize for his public policy contributions toward reducing hardship and expanding opportunity.
Professor Parolin, who is Director of the Economics, Inequality & Opportunity Programme at INET Oxford, joins a group of distinguished scholars who have received this prestigious award, which recognises contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management before the age of 40.
The awarding panel, jointly administered by Mathematica and The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, pointed to Parolin's wide variety of U.S. public policy research, which has appeared in leading journals on public policy, economics, sociology, demography, and industrial relations; and also been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic, CNN, a U.S. presidential debate, and in other outlets.
In particular, Parolin was commended for his research on the effects of the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion on food hardship, family consumption patterns, and parents’ mental health; the role of cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; the interaction of safety net programs and the optimal replacement rate of Unemployment Insurance; and how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps reduce extreme poverty.
The 2025 Award and Prize will be presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management’s (APPAM’s) 2025 Annual Conference, which will be held in Seattle, WA on November 13-15, 2025. As the 25th recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, Parolin will deliver the Kershaw Lecture during the conference.
Parolin 'exemplifies spirit of Kershaw'
Paul Decker, President and chief executive officer of Mathematica, said that Professor Parolin was an exemplary winner: "Zach exemplifies the spirit of the David N. Kershaw Award through his rigorous research on expanding opportunity. His work deepens our understanding of the challenges facing families, shows how policy can tangibly improve people’s lives, and enriches national policy discussions."
Kenneth Nelson, Head of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford said that Professor Parolin had achieved one of the most prestigious research awards in public policy: "The University of Oxford is honoured to recognize Professor Zachary Parolin as the 2025 recipient of the Kershaw Award. His exemplary achievements, professional excellence, and sustained contributions reflect the highest standards of the policy sciences.
"Professor Parolin has for many years produced new cutting-edge research on the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, inequality, and social mobility across the United States and the European Union. This research now has resulted in one of the most prestigious research awards in public policy" he added.
Julia Black, Warden of Nuffield College, said "Congratulations to Zach on winning this prestigious award. Zach’s research is squarely within Nuffield’s founding mission to address the challenges societies face, and I am delighted he is joining the college."
Eric Beinhocker, Executive Director of INET Oxford, said, “Zach’s research combines deep scholarly insights with real world impact, exemplifying what INET Oxford aspires to achieve.”
About the Award
The David N. Kershaw Award seeks to recognize original contributions to research-based knowledge that have advanced the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Eligibility is not contingent on disciplinary background, policy focus or academic credentials.
The award was named for David N. Kershaw, the first president of Mathematica, who helped guide the establishment of APPAM before his death from cancer at age 37. Created in 1983 in his memory, the award is jointly administered by Mathematica and APPAM.
This prize is among the most prestigious and largest awards recognizing contributions to public policy and social science. Funding for the award comes from a memorial endowment established following the death of David N. Kershaw and managed by independent trustees. The recipient receives a cash prize of $20,000 at the Awards Reception & Presidential Address.
Previous winners
Prior winners and their institutional affiliations at the time they won the award are as follows:
- 1st award: Joseph Newhouse (Rand Corporation)
- 2nd award: Lee Friedman (University of California at Berkeley)
- 3rd award: David Ellwood (Harvard University)
- 4th award: Deborah Freund (Indiana University)
- 5th award: Katherine Swartz (Urban Institute)
- 6th award: Rebecca Blank (Northwestern University)
- 7th award: John DiIulio (Princeton University)
- 8th award: Alan Krueger (Princeton University)
- 9th award: Jonathan Caulkins (Carnegie Mellon University)
- 10th award: James Hamilton (Duke University)
- 11th award: David Cutler (Harvard University)
- 12th award: Carolyn Heinrich (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- 13th award: Jens Ludwig (Georgetown University)
- 14th award: Brian Jacob (University of Michigan)
- 15th award: Esther Duflo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- 16th award: John MacDonald (University of Pennsylvania)
- 17th award: Donald Moynihan (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- 18th award: Varun Rai (University of Texas at Austin)
- 19th award: David J. Deming (Harvard University)
- 20th award: Kirabo Jackson (Northwestern University)
- 21st award: Sanya Carley (Indiana University)
- 22nd award: Abigail A.R. Aiken (University of Texas at Austin)
- 23rd award: Elizabeth Linos (Harvard University)
- 24th award: Katherine Michelmore (University of Michigan
About Zach
Professor Parolin joined Oxford from Bocconi University in Milan, succeeding Emeritus Professor Brian Nolan at the University’s Department of Social Policy & Intervention (DSPI). He sits as a Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College, a graduate college of the University of Oxford dedicated to advanced study and research in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics, and sociology.
Zach Directs the University’s Economics, Inequality and Opportunity (EIO) Programme at The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School (INET Oxford), which seeks to understand the drivers and implications of economic inequality and what is required to produce fairer growth and opportunity.
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