In May 2003, Suzanne Berger, Raphael Dorman and Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science, and Richard Samuels, Ford International Professor of Political Science, received the Dean's Award for Distinguished Service to the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. The awards recognize the major contributions that these two scholars have made to international education and research at MIT. Both Berger and Samuels received plaques honoring their contributions, as well as $10,000 stipends.

Professor Berger works in comparative politics, with a particular focus on France and Italy and in political economy. A faculty member since 1968, she is founding director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), and a member of the MIT Industrial Performance Center. Her current research concerns the impact of globalization on domestic institutions.

Professor Samuels is the director of the Center for International Studies and founding director of the MIT Japan program. He became Chair of the Japan-US Friendship Commission in 2001, an independent federal grantmaking agency that supports Japanese studies and policy-oriented research in the United States. Dr. Samuels' latest book is Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan, a comparative political and economic history of political leadership in Italy and Japan.

"Suzanne Berger and Dick Samuels are a remarkable team," remarked Dean Khoury, "whose contribution to shaping MIT into a premier international university is simply enormous."

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Bengt Holmstrom, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, has been named head of the Department of Economics. Holmstrom received the BS from the University of Helsinki in 1972, and the MSc and PhD, in 1975 and 1978, from Stanford University.

A contract theorist, Holmstrom's work on career concerns, motivations, and the difficulties of providing incentives to teams and in complex environments has played a fundamental role in shaping the modern theory of the firm. His recent publications have addressed the organization of innovation, the firm as a sub-economy, and transfer pricing.

In announcing the appointment, Dean Philip S. Khoury remarked that, "with Bengt Holmstrom's keen eye for talent, he will be able to build on the very solid foundation of achievement that his predecessors established for MIT Economics during the past half century."

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