Rogers Smith Elected to American Philosophical Society

Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, has been elected a member of the American Philosophical Society (APS). The APS was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin and John Bartram, three years after the founding of the University of Pennsylvania. Its past members include Alexander Hamilton, Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein.

Smith is associate dean for the social sciences in Penn Arts and Sciences, and has a secondary appointment in the Graduate School of Education. He is a renowned scholar of constitutional law, American political thought, and modern legal and political theory, with special interests in questions of citizenship, race, ethnicity, and gender.

Smith has authored or co-authored six volumes, including Still a House Divided: Race and Politics in Obama's America, with Desmond S. King, and Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Smith is also recognized as an outstanding educator who has received the University's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and Provost's Award for Distinguished Ph.D. Teaching and Mentoring, as well as Penn Arts and Sciences’ Dean's Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research.

Smith served as chair of the Department of Political Science from 2003 to 2006. In 2006 he founded, and has since chaired, the Penn Program for Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism (DCC). He is also co-chair of the Advisory Council of the Teacher's Institute of Philadelphia, a collaboration between Penn and the School District of Philadelphia.

The APS promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach.