Hedwig Lee wins W. E. B. Du Bois Award in Population Science

Hedwig Lee, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the Duke Cook Center’s Health Equity research pillar, received the inaugural W. E. B. Du Bois Award in Population Science at the Population Association of America’s annual conference earlier this month.

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The Du Bois Award recognizes a scholar who has a record of sustained and innovative research contributions to the study of race/ethnicity in demography, with a particular focus on demographers engaging in high-impact public-facing work that informs policy and practice.

“Dr. Lee’s work has transformed how scholars understand the causes and consequences of racial inequality,” said Tyson Brown, professor of sociology and director of the Cook Center on Social Equity. “Her research has made major contributions to the scientific study of race-related population processes, and her mentorship has helped shape the next generation of race scholars. She is a preeminent scholar of racial inequality whose work exemplifies high-impact, public-facing research that informs policy and practice. Her remarkable record of service has also strengthened the field of demography.”

Lee has served on three National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committees and chaired the NASEM workshop planning committee on Structural Racism and Rigorous Models of Social Inequity. She has also served on boards of directors and advisory boards for the Population Association of America, General Social Survey, Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science, Scholar Strategy Network and the Vera Institute of Justice.

She is the author or co-author of over 90 peer-reviewed studies on racialized phenomena and has published in the American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Demography, PNAS and Science, among others. Lee is also a co-editor of the journal Demography.