SOCY’s Sonalde Desai Named a 2022 AAAS Fellow
The Distinguished University Professor is among six other University of Maryland, College Park faculty presented with this American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) honor
Sonalde Desai, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland Department of Sociology (SOCY), has been named a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
AAAS Fellows are selected annually for their contributions to the advancement of science or its applications, and is one of the highest lifetime distinctions that can be granted within the scientific community.
“I am deeply honored to have my research recognized by the world’s largest scientific society,” said Desai, who is also the Director of the National Council of Applied Economic Research’s National Data Innovation Centre in New Delhi, India. “It is a recognition of the team of incredibly talented students, post-docs and faculty at University of Maryland, as well as colleagues from National Council of Applied Economic Research in India that I have been privileged to work with.”
Desai’s scientific contributions have primarily concerned how gender, class, regional inequalities and social institutions shape the lives of individuals. Currently, she is working on fielding another round of the India Human Development Survey, a now 20-year-old research effort to track changes in Indian society via 40,000 households during an era of tremendous transition.
“Professor Desai’s in-depth, multifaceted work sheds light on numerous important social dynamics, especially in regard to how policies can impact women and families in India,” said Susan Rivera, Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. “Her collaborative research inspires our college community, and I am so proud that she is being recognized with this well-deserved honor.”
Since the India Human Development Survey’s inception, it has been used by more than 12,000 researchers in over 1,200 research papers and dissertations. Today, the survey is considered a premiere data source by many in the sociology, and broader scientific community.
“Professor Desai is a demographer whose work has made significant contributions to the field of sociology. Countless researchers rely on her work, and on the India Human Development survey that she leads,” said Jeff Lucas, SOCY Professor and Chair. “Our department is honored to work alongside a researcher of her talent, who is so generous with her time and findings.”
As part of the 2022 AAAS Fellows class—which is made up of 506 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines, including six researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park—Desai will be presented with a certificate and blue and gold rosette during a Fellows Forum ceremony at the AAAS Annual Meeting.
“I feel deeply grateful to the families who have opened their homes and hearts to our researchers and allowed a glimpse into their lives. Some of the children we interviewed as 8 year olds are now in their 20s, and looking at the way their lives have evolved allows us to understand ways in which social institutions and public policies shape their life chances,” said Desai. “As the world struggles to recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic, we hope to provide data to researchers and policymakers that will allow us to build back a better world.”
Published on Wed, Feb 1, 2023 - 10:53AM