Robert D. Putnam is a political scientist who held the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy post at Harvard University, where he taught from 1979 to 2018. His publication of Bowling Alone started a national conversation about civic engagement, and colleges now assign it in sociology and political science courses. His honors include the Johan Skytte Prize in 2006, membership in the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Humanities Medal, which President Obama presented to him in 2012. His other books include Making Democracy Work, Our Kids, and The Upswing, which directly follows up on his original research into America's declining social capital.
