Welcome to ISSR's New Associate Director Kevin L. Young

 
ISSR is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin L. Young (Associate Professor of Political Science) to Associate Director for next academic year 2018-19. ISSR is grateful for the service of Henry Renski (Associate Professor of Regional Planning), who is completing a very successful three-year term in this important role.
 
Kevin Young earned his PhD from the London School of Economics, and joined the Department of Political Science at UMass in 2012. He is a scholar of International Political Economy who specializes in the study of financial power, global governance, interest groups and elites, and whose publications profile methods ranging from qualitative interviewing and network analysis to Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. While his primary work has been in the area of financial regulation, interest groups and elites, several of his recent research efforts involve studies of the academic profession itself, a theme that connects him to ongoing efforts at ISSR to foster reflection among social scientists about their own field and discipline.
 
Young has been an active member of the ISSR community since his arrival at UMass, and is committed to supporting and enriching ISSR's mission of advancing excellence in social science research. He was a 2013-14 ISSR Scholar. His ISSR Scholars fellowship culminated in a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation, and led to current collaborations in which he is developing multi-million dollar grant proposals in the US and Europe. Young notes: "ISSR has been a huge catalyst to my own learning since coming to UMass in 2012. I’ve learned a great deal and connected with a great community here. I feel really fortunate to be part of the awesome ISSR team to continue helping scholars at UMass, and make the Institute even stronger."
 
ISSR is excited to welcome Kevin Young to a leadership role, especially given his interdisciplinary commitment and previous service in convening methodological and policy forums that connect graduate student and faculty across social science disciplines including political science, economics and sociology. ISSR's efforts to convene interdisciplinary dialogue and promote social science research also resonates deeply with Young. “Whether social science is good or bad, it has a real effect on the world around us. I share ISSR's passion both for social science research and for facilitating literacy in social science methods. Places like ISSR help us think not only about how to do research well, but also about the tradeoffs in research and the ethical issues involved in our craft."