Two UCI political scientists and an economist have been named 2012-13 recipients of research awards from the School of Social Sciences. Each honor carries a $5,000 prize.

Sara Wallace Goodman, political science assistant professor, is this year’s recipient of the Social Sciences Assistant Professor Research Award. Established in 2005, the honor recognizes research excellence accompanied by a strong project proposal from a junior faculty member in social sciences. Goodman joined the UCI faculty in 2009, following a six month post doctoral fellowship at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She specializes in citizenship politics of Western European countries and the U.S., focusing on immigrant integration, national identity and immigration policy making. Her work has been published in West European Politics, Political Studies, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. A recent study she did on civic integration strategies in Western Europe, published in World Politics in 2012, was recognized by the American Political Science Association’s Section on European Politics as the best article dealing with European politics and society published in the last year. Her 2012-13 winning research proposal focuses on politics of citizenship in Israel. Goodman received her bachelor’s in political science from Miami University (Ohio) and her doctorate in government from Georgetown University.

Matthew Beckmann, political science associate professor, and Jiawei Chen, economics associate professor, are recipients of the Social Sciences Associate Professor Research Award. The award was established in 2011-12 to recognize research excellence and project proposals by newly tenured faculty in social sciences.

A member of the UCI political science faculty since 2004, Beckmann studies Washington politics and key leadership styles different presidents bring to the Oval Office. He is currently working on a book project, "The Oval's Inner Circle," which investigates how external pressures impact postwar presidents' internal decision-making. He has also published studies in the Journal of Theoretical Politics and Journal of Politics, among others. His supported research proposal examines bipartisanship in Washington. Beckmann received his bachelor’s from UCLA and his doctorate from the University of Michigan.
 
Chen specializes in industrial organization, econometrics and finance, using economic models to study how different factors impact markets. He has published studies in the International Journal of Industrial Organization, American Economic Review, and Journal of Econometrics. His research proposal supported by social sciences is titled, “Dual Dynamics in Markets with Network Effects.” Chen joined the UCI faculty in 2005 and in 2008, he was the recipient of the Social Sciences Assistant Professor Research Award. He received his bachelor’s in international finance from Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University and his doctorate in economics from Johns Hopkins University.