Anne Case and Elke Weber, both based at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, have been named members of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
They are among 146 scientists, scholars and engineers elected this year in recognition of their contributions to their respective fields. They join Jennifer Rexford and Suzanne Staggs, who are also Princeton faculty members.
Anne Case
Case, the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Emeritus, has written extensively on health over the life course. Case, who directs the Research Program in Development Studies for the Department of Economics at the Woodrow Wilson School, worked for a decade on the social and economic impact of the AIDS crisis in Africa.
Case is also known for first sounding the alarm about the rise in “deaths of despair" from suicide, drugs and alcoholism among the American working class. She and Sir Angus Deaton, her co-author and husband, this year published a book on the subject, “Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism," from Princeton University Press.
Case has been awarded the Kenneth J. Arrow Prize in Health Economics from the International Health Economics Association for her work on the links between economic status and health status in childhood, and the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for her research on midlife morbidity and mortality. She currently serves on the president's committees on the National Medal of Science and the Committee on National Statistics. She is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a fellow of the Econometric Society, and is an affiliate of the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. She also is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Case received her Master in Public Affairs and her Ph.D. from Princeton. She has taught at the University since 1991. In 2011, she was awarded a President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching from Princeton.
Elke Weber
Weber is the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and professor of psychology and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She is also the associate director for education at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Weber is known internationally for using behavioral decision science and psychological theory to advance global understanding of and help to alleviate social problems. She has been recognized for her distinctive approach to linking psychology principles to behavior change and uncovering the implications for environmental and economic policy, communications, management, economics and leadership models. Her recent research shows how the personal carbon footprint of climate scientists, philanthropists and other climate advocates affect the perceived legitimacy of and policy support for their climate strategies. Weber’s research ranges from studies of discrimination and economic inequality to investigations of the social and psychological barriers to decarbonization. Much of her work contextualizes tradeoffs and decision-making risks, especially under conditions of uncertainty.
Weber joined the Princeton faculty in 2016, where she founded the Behavioral Science for Policy Lab. Prior, at Columbia University, she founded the Center for Decision Sciences and Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, which are still active today. Weber was the Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School for 17 years, and also held visiting appointments at London Business School and the Copenhagen Business School.
In 2018, Weber was named a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina). She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Psychological Society, and has held leadership positions in Society for Neuroeconomics, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Mathematical psychology, among others.