Simon Weschle Honored with Moynihan Award

Simon Weschle, assistant professor of political science, is this year’s recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research.

The Moynihan Award is presented annually in recognition of a non-tenured faculty member of the Maxwell School with an outstanding record of teaching, research and service. Established eponymously in 1985 by thenU.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, himself a former member of the Maxwell School’s junior faculty, the award is intended to help Maxwell recognize and retain promising scholars.

Weschle joined Maxwell in 2017. His research focuses on money in politics, corruption, democratic accountability and representation, comparative political economy, and quantitative methods.

“Both in terms of the number of publications and also the placement of these articles, Simon is in the top tier of researchers not just in the department but also in the field,” said his nominator, Shana Kushner Gadarian, professor and chair of political science and Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking.

In her nomination letter, Gadarian highlighted his numerous peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in top journals like the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, and The Journal of Politics

Weschle’s first book Money in Politics. Self-Enrichment, Campaign Spending, and Golden Parachutes is forthcoming in July 2022 with Cambridge University Press.

Gadarian also lauded Weschle for his advocacy for students. She pointed out how he took note that students in the challenging methods course, PSC 202: Introduction to Political Analysis, expressed anxiety about their mathematical abilities. Recognizing that this was more pronounced among women and traditionally under-represented groups, Weschle worked with the Center for Learning and Student Success to develop techniques in class to help students gain competence and confidence in math.

Additionally, Weschle often mentors undergraduate and graduate students on research projects. In the 202021 academic year, he served on three dissertation committees and was an advisor for a distinction thesis that received an honorable mention at the Maxwell School Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship. In recognition of his service to students he was awarded the 2021 Ben and Marcia Baldanza Faculty Advisor of the Year Award.

—Jewell Bohlinger

Susan and James Willie, who both earned master of public administration degrees in 1998, attended the inaugural Awards of Excellence in April to accept an honor posthumously, on behalf of James’ father, the late Charles V. Willie ’57 Ph.D. (Soc)/’92 Hon.