Historian Timothy Snyder to Receive 2025 Moynihan Prize

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Tom Kecskemethy, Executive Director
The American Academy of Political and Social Science
thomask@upenn.edu

Philadelphia, PA (March 19, 2025) — The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) will award the 2025 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize to historian Timothy Snyder of Yale University and the University of Toronto. Snyder, a prolific scholar of Ukraine and of the consequences of authoritarianism in twentieth-century Europe, is also acclaimed for his analyses of tyranny, freedom, international human rights, and the Russian war against Ukraine.

The Moynihan Prize is awarded annually to a leading policymaker, social scientist, or public intellectual whose career demonstrates the value of using evidence to inform public policy, improve public discourse, and advance the human condition.  Named in honor of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Prize carries forward his legacy of public service that is informed by intellectual engagement and scholarship.

“As the world confronts formidable challenges to democratic institutions, human rights, and the rule of law, Timothy Snyder’s work to document the brutal consequensences of totalitarianism is a sobering reminder of our recent past,” said AAPSS President Marta Tienda. “Moreover, Tim draws on that history in ways that make it relevant to our current circumstances: He asks us to carefully consider the very concept of liberty and urges us to value leadership that promotes sound governance for human rights. It is a privilege for the Academy to recognize Professor Snyder with the 2025 Moynihan Prize.”

A scholar of the history of Central and Eastern Europe—particularly Ukraine and the Soviet Union—and of the Holocaust, Professor Snyder is the author or editor of twenty books, which have published in forty languages. His contributions to the international press cover authoritarianism, digital politics, health, and education in Ukraine and the United States. Snyder holds the inaugural Chair in Modern European History, supported by the Temerty Endowment for Ukrainian Studies, at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University. He is also a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna and the head of the academic advisory council of the Ukrainian History Global Initiative.

On being selected for this Prize, Snyder said, “At a time when engaged social science is both necessary and threatened, I am particularly honored to join the list of distinguished colleagues who have received the Moynihan Prize.” Snyder will accept the Moynihan Prize and deliver the twelfth annual Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy in Washington, DC, this fall.

About the American Academy of Political and Social Science

The American Academy of Political and Social Science promotes the use of social science in the public domain and in policymaking. Its flagship journal, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, brings together public officials and scholars from across social science disciplines to address issues such as the transition to adulthood in developing countries, the current and future impact of the Great Recession, enhanced government regulation, and the influence of the criminal justice system on American civic life. Learn more at www.aapss.org.