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NEWS RELEASE
4/22/98
CONTACT: Kathleen O'Toole, News Service (650) 725-1939;
e-mail kathleen.otoole@stanford.edu
Political scientist George to receive Swedish prize
A relatively new international prize to honor political scientists will be presented to Stanford's Alexander George on Oct. 3 in Uppsala, Sweden.
George, professor emeritus of political science, is only the fourth recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize in political science, which carries with it 400,000 Swedish crowns, the equivalent of about $50,000. He is the first winner of the prize who specializes in foreign policy, rather than in comparative politics or democratic theory.
The prize is given by the Foundation for the Chair in Eloquence and Government at Uppsala University. The chair was founded in 1622 to fund one of the oldest professorships in the world. The foundation said its "official motivation" for awarding the prize to George was to honor his "pathbreaking analysis of statecraft, its possibilities and limits, performed with great sensitivity for the importance of judgment, reasoned argumentation and responsible leadership in foreign policy decision-making."
The prize is named for Johan Skytte, a 17th-century Swedish politician and land owner who taught the Swedish prince and held positions in government.
George previously has received many honors including the MacArthur Prize in 1983 and the National Academy of Sciences Award for Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1997. His most recent book, Presidential Personality and Performance, co-authored with his wife, Juliette L. George, was published by Westview Press two months ago. It is a discussion of the problems with psychological biographies of presidents, looking at all the presidents from Franklin Delano Roosevelt through Bill Clinton.
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