Professor Putnam was conferred in a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, London, which celebrated the graduation of IOE undergraduate students from our Education Studies BA, Psychology with Education BSc, Social Sciences BSc, and Social Sciences with Quantitative Methods BSc programmes, along with several postgraduate and doctoral students.
Professor Robert Putnam
Currently, Professor Putnam is Peter and Isabel Makin Professor of Public Policy in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Professor Putnam’s research has particularly focused on ‘social capital’. ‘Social capital’ is seen broadly as the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society enabling that society to function effectively.
He has written fifteen books which have been translated into more than twenty languages. His books ‘Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community’ and ‘Making Democracy Work’ are among the most cited social science publications of the last half century.
Professor Putnam has been a consultant for political leaders, including Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron.
In 2006 he received America’s highest honour for contributions to the Humanities, the National Humanities Medal, and the Johan Skytte Prize from the University of Uppsala.
In 2015 he published ‘Our Kids: the American Dream in Crisis’ and he is currently working on a major empirical project about 20th century economic, social and political trends and the implications for American culture.
Links
- Undergraduate courses
- IOE grants Honorary Fellowships to BBC journalist and charity CEO
- View Professor Robert Putnam’s profile
Photos
- John Cobb
We underestimate the importance of job quality for our lives
A report led by Professor Francis Green found that jobs have become less gendered over recent decades, though gaps persist in pay and job autonomy in favour of men.
12 May 2025
Who is more likely to use AI at work?
AI use is concentrated in high-paying, high-skill roles, and adopted most commonly by men, young workers and those with university-level qualifications, finds a report led by Dr Golo Henseke.
08 May 2025
IOE Professor elected to the Academia Europaea
Professor Zhu Hua is among 329 eminent scholars worldwide who have been elected to the Academia Europaea in 2025.
02 May 2025