MPSA Announces the Rodney Hero Award for the Best Paper in American Politics

The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) is honored to announce the renaming of the Best Paper in American Politics award to the Rodney Hero Award for the Best Paper in American Politics in honor of Rodney Hero, the Raul Yzaguirre Chair in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. The award recognizes the best paper on the topic of American Politics presented at the annual MPSA conference in April.

Dr. Hero’s research and teaching focus on American democracy and politics, especially as viewed through the analytical lenses of Latino Politics, Racial/Ethnic Politics, State and Urban Politics, and Federalism. His book, “Latinos and the U.S. Political System: Two-tiered Pluralism,” received the American Political Science Association’s [APSA] 1993 Ralph J. Bunche Award. He also authored “Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics” (which was selected for the APSA’s Woodrow Wilson Award in 1999), and “Racial Diversity and Social Capital: Equality and Community in America” (2007). He is also co-author of “MultiEthnic Moments: The Politics of Urban Education Reform (2006); Newcomers, Insiders and Outsiders: Immigrants and American Racial Politics in the Early 21st Century” (2009); and “Latino Lives in America: Making it Home” (2010); “Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences” (2012). And his 2013 coauthored book, “Black-Latino Relations in U.S. National Politics: Beyond Conflict or Cooperation,” was chosen for the 2014 ‘Best Book on Latino Politics Award’ given by the Latino Caucus of the APSA. He served as president of the Midwest Political Science Association (2007-8), the Western Political Science Association (1999-2000) and the American Political Science Association (2014-5).

Renamed in 2024, the $250 Rodney Hero Award for the Best Paper in American Politics joins multiple conference awards that recognize outstanding research presented at the annual MPSA conference. Your support of the discipline and political science scholars makes a difference! Consider making a tax-deductible donation to help fund this award or other MPSA sponsored research awards.

Nominations to create or rename an award can be made by MPSA members. The Committee on Awards reviews all nominations and is responsible for making a recommendation to the Council for final approval. To propose a new award or scholarship refer to the MPSA Policy on Naming Awards and complete this form.

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About the MPSA

Home of the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), one of the top-ranked academic journals in the discipline, the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) was founded in 1939 and is dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in all areas of political science.

The purposes of the MPSA are to promote the professional study and teaching of political science, to facilitate communications between those engaged in such study, and to develop standards for and encourage research in theoretical and practical political problems. As such, MPSA is a nonpartisan association. It does not support political parties or candidates.