Congratulations!
Congratulations to Dr. Judith Torney-Purta, professor emerita of the Human Development & Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, on receiving the Warren E. Miller Award for Meritorious Service to the Social Sciences from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Science (ICPSR, University of Michigan) for 2019!
In her acceptance speech in Ann Arbor she reflected on her decision to become a psychologist who studies young people’s civic attitudes and engagement nationally and internationally. She also quoted the founding Director of the ICPSR organization, Warren Miller, who wrote the following in 1989 for the ICPSR's 25th Anniversary Book:
“Ours is a world in which the emphasis on…originality, insight and imagination has at times led to selfish, egocentric and less than civil behavior. The Consortium stands for openness of access to the facts (the data).”
The Consortium also promotes collaboration among researchers. These ideals have been central to Dr. Torney-Purta.
In her speech, Dr. Torney-Purta also encouraged researchers to make data discoverable. "If you love your data, give it away." She was instrumental in establishing the CivicLEADS project at ICPSR. This archive contains more than 20 data sets relating to civic and political engagement available to researchers without cost. She is a member of its advisory committee and has facilitated acquisitions. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has deposited civic engagement projects' from 1999 and 2009 (much of which she was instrumental in collecting) at CivicLEADS.org.
Doctoral alumnae from HDQM who have been valued collaborators in these studies include Jo-Ann Amadeo (now at Marymount University) and Carolyn Barber (now at the University of Missouri, Kansas City).
In retirement Dr. Torney-Purta is co-editing a book about the international impact of the IEA’s Civic Education Studies. She is a member of the National Academy of Education.
