On May 27, 2020, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded Albert Fishlow its Centennial Medal, which honors scholars’ “fundamental and lasting contributions to knowledge, to their disciplines, to their colleagues, and to society.”
A former Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies and founding Director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at Columbia University, Dr. Fishlow is now professor emeritus. He spent 22 years at the University of California, Berkeley, advising on hundreds of doctoral dissertations with the same principles of relevance, analytical rigor, and intellectual breadth that are found in his contributions and profusely displayed in his classes.
Professor Fishlow has been the quintessential scholar on Latin America among U.S. academics for nearly six decades. His early contributions to the understanding of income distribution and poverty have influenced generations of economists working on one of the most relevant questions for the region. In his seminal work on this topic, published in the American Economic Review in 1972, Fishlow showed how low levels of per capita income in Brazil were linked to low levels of productivity and inappropriately targeted social policies. He highlighted the relationship between income inequality and years of schooling, as well as the impact of race and institutional factors. Nearly half a century later, his insights remain accurate and completely relevant.
His friends and former students at ILAS and Columbia University are very proud of this award that recognizes the intellectual leadership and the amazing legacy of Albert Fishlow.
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