The Moynihan Prize Capital Campaign
Give Today to the Moynihan Prize
Sustain a legacy and support those working to use science for good public policymaking.
“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
—Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan uniquely personified the intersection of scholarship and policymaking. His career in public service demonstrated how the use of science and evidence can enliven public discourse and improve the quality of policy debates among both Democrats and Republicans. Moynihan’s dedication to rigorous debate was a gift to the nation that helped our government advance the well-being of all Americans.
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) awards the Moynihan Prize each year to a scholar, public servant, or public intellectual whose work reflects the values and legacy of the late senator. Specifically, we recognize those who use social research to improve public policy. Since its inception in 2007, the award has recognized an extraordinarily diverse group of honorees from across the political spectrum who, like Moynihan, use intellectual vibrancy and creativity to strengthen our government and nation.
In 2013, the AAPSS began hosting the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy alongside the award ceremony in Washington, DC, giving each year’s winner the opportunity to speak out about the world’s pressing challenges.
Sustaining a Legacy
To increase the Moynihan Prize’s financial stability and broaden its programmatic reach, the AAPSS began a capital campaign in late 2025. This campaign was publicly launched in January 2026 with a panel event, “Entitled to Your Own Facts? Science and Public Policy in a Post-Truth America.” With your help, we can reach our goal of raising $3 million to secure the future of the Moynihan Prize, expand its impact, and ensure it continues to honor Senator Moynihan’s legacy.
Funds raised by this campaign will be used to:
Increase the cash value of the annual prize
(currently $25,000), bringing greater prestige to the award itself, and to the work of the Prize’s winners
Develop a series of virtual and regional Moynihan Prize seminars
aimed at amplifying the importance of public policy informed by facts and evidence and scholarship driven by the practical concerns that are faced by public servants
Establish a grant program to sponsor the work of emerging scholars
who are pursuing work on the use of science in public policymaking, an understudied and often misunderstood field
“Moynihan was the nation’s best thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician among thinkers since Jefferson.”
—Michael Barone, conservative political analyst and author of The Almanac of American Politics
Leading the Charge
“The Academy recognizes the use of science and research to inform policy and try to make this a better world. … It’s important that our politics become reconnected to what research has to tell us.”
—Isabel Sawhill, 2016 Moynihan Prize Winner
The AAPSS formed a Steering Committee committed to the long-term preservation of the Moynihan Prize.
Sara Miller McCune
Co-Chair
Founder of Sage Publications
Alan Blinder
Economist and 2023 Moynihan Prize winner
Molly Moynihan
Investment attorney and niece of Senator Moynihan
Lawrence O'Donnell
Co-Chair
NBC News anchor and former senior advisor to Senator Moynihan
Jamelle Bouie
The New York Times columnist
Marta Tienda
Sociologist and past president of the AAPSS
Give today to help sustain the legacy of the Moynihan Prize.
Please contact AAPSS executive director Tom Kecskemethy with any questions about the capital campaign, corporate giving, or larger event support.
