Rein Taagepera, political science professor emeritus, is the recipient of the 2013 UC Irvine Outstanding Emeritus Award from the UCI Emeriti Association. The honor annually recognizes an outstanding emeritus professor on campus for exceptional contributions in research, teaching, and service.

A native of Estonia, Taagepera joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1970. He is the author of more than 100 research articles ranging in topic from nuclear physics, arms races and corruption, to population growth and linguistic studies. He is the founding dean of the School of Social Sciences at Tartu University in Estonia and served for two years as president of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.

Although he officially retired from UCI in 1994, he has continued to be an active member of the faculty. He teaches courses each year for the political science department and serves as a mentor to both undergraduate and graduate students. He is a regular at department faculty meetings and provides assistance with academic personnel case preparations. At 80 years of age, he still either bikes or walks to his office on campus almost every day. In 2008, he was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize for his analysis of the function of electoral systems in representative democracy. He donated the $75,000 prize money to Tartu University to open a new line of research into the scientific study of the social sciences.

He will be presented the Outstanding Emeritus award at the annual meeting of the UC Irvine Emeriti Association June 4 at 10:00 a.m. at the UCI University Club.