ICPSR Summer Program Welcomes New Director Robert (Rob) J. Franzese Jr.
July 22, 2022
Contact: Dory Knight-Ingram, [email protected]
ANN ARBOR—The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), in the midst of celebrating its 60th anniversary, is excited to announce another milestone: Robert (Rob) J. Franzese Jr. will be the 10th director of the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research.
Robert (Rob) J. Franzese Jr
Franzese is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Political Science and Research Professor in the Center for Political Studies (CPS) at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at the University of Michigan. His work has focused on how political and economic institutions, structure, and circumstances and events affect macroeconomic policymaking. He has investigated aspects of policymaking including its character and efficacy, and related areas of quantitative empirical methods, such as models for complex context-conditionality and spatial econometrics.
Franzese also has extensive administrative experience in a number of departmental and other institutional units at the University of Michigan. He is also very familiar with the ICPSR Summer Program, having served as an instructor since 2009, teaching 23 workshops.
“The Consortium is extraordinarily pleased that Rob has agreed to assume the leadership of the ICPSR Summer Program,” said ICPSR Director Margaret Levenstein. “Rob’s passion for teaching methods and for building an inclusive social science community echo the values of the Summer Program. He brings the experience of a long-time instructor in the program and the vision of an innovative political methodologist. As the program begins preparations to welcome its 60th cohort, we are confident that, with Rob’s leadership, the program will continue to provide impactful experiences for its participants that transform social science itself. We are also extremely grateful to Mike Traugott for the steady, yet nimble hand that he has provided over the last three, very challenging summers,” Levenstein said.
Franzese is taking the reins from Michael Traugott, professor emeritus of communication and political science, and research professor emeritus at the Institute for Social Research. Traugott has served as interim director of the ICPSR Summer Program since January 2020.
Traugott led the Summer Program’s transition to fully virtual courses in 2020, then to a mix of both virtual and in-person courses as ICPSR deftly pivoted to serve the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. He says he is honored to pass the baton to Franzese.
“I am glad to have been able to help the Summer Program through the COVID period. I know it will be in good hands with Rob in charge, aided by a very able staff,” Traugott said.
Franzese is looking forward to leading the Summer Program into a new era.
“I’m excited to continue Mike’s outstanding stewardship and leadership, and that of previous directors, to maintain and expand the Summer Program’s globally leading education and training in quantitative methods of social science,” he said. “From its critical foundational training in core and basic methods courses to its advanced and specialized workshops across the entire span of research methods of modern social science, there is simply no place like the ICPSR Summer Program.”
Related: ICPSR Summer Program Blalock Lectures 2022: All free and open to the public!