Accomplishments

Although her career is far from over, Kristin Luker’s resume already possesses numerous prestigious awards, honors and positions. In 1979, she was a recipient of the American Sociological Association’s Jessie Bernard Award for her first book Taking Chances: Abortion and the Decision Not to Contracept. This award is given “in recognition of scholarly work that has enlarged the horizons of sociology to encompass fully the role of women in society.” In 1984, she was given a Distinguished Teaching Award of Warren College in the University of California, San Diego, where she was teaching at the time; additionally, her second book Abortion and the politics of Motherhood was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in the same year. The following year, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood was awarded a Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. Dr. Luker has also received a John Guggenheim Fellowship, which are fellowships given to both men and women who “have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.” She has been invited to the Center for Advanced Study for the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto California (coincidentally where I happen to live.) She has obtained a variety of grants from the Ford and Spencer Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund. She was also chosen as one of three sociologists invited to meet with President Bill Clinton to discuss topics affecting the country in 1993. Two years later, Dr. Luker was elected to the Sociological Research Association, which limits its memberships to 150 active members, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a recipient of both the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship as well as the Open Society Institute Project Fellowship. Lastly in 2004, she was honored with the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award which annually acknowledges outstanding faculty members in one of the eight Northern California universities and colleges that have Phi Beta Kappa chapters.