The BMI Prize

The BMI Prize

The Boris Mints Institute was founded with the intention to encourage research, planning and innovative thinking to promote significant positive change in the world. BMI is focusing on finding strategic feasible solutions to provide strategic plans and innovative projects to enhance the welfare of communities around the globe.

Starting 2017, BMI awards a $100,000 prize to an exceptional individual who has devoted his/her research and academic life to the solution of a strategic global challenge, and whose research public action and ideas had transformative impacts on global policy formation and a proven contribution to the welfare of a significant number of communities worldwide

 

The 2024 BMI Prize Laureate is Prof. Beatriz Magaloni, Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University.

 

The prize is awarded to Prof. Magaloni for her contribution to the field of the study of authoritarianism and its return as a global challenge. In her research, she explains why autocratic regimes hold multi-party elections. Her work provides a broad comparative framework and is now considered a “classic” in the field. Assigned in most undergraduate and graduate-level seminars on comparative politics, the themes and theories developed in her work set the agenda for conceptualizing multi-party autocracies, which have become the most common form of dictatorship worldwide. Her body of work also provides an understanding of the most insidious threats to democracy in the contemporary period, which do not come from military coups but from civilian leaders ascending to power through elections. Prof. Magaloni’s work on autocracies constitutes a key pillar for how subsequent scholars have come to understand and study multi-party autocracies, the role of elections in these systems, what shapes mass support and voting behavior in autocracies, the factors that explain why do autocratic rulers survive or die, when they democratize the electoral institutions and the conditions under which they might cede power to their opponents. Her work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, World Development, Comparative Political Studies, Annual Review of Political Science, Latin American Research Review, Journal of Theoretical Politics and other renowned journals.

 

For further information about Prof. Beatriz Magaloni:

https://politicalscience.stanford.edu/people/beatriz-magaloni

https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/2132 

 

The prize will be awarded to Prof. Magaloni at the joint BMI – University of Donja Gorica Conference in Podgorica, Montenegro, on November 25th.

Photo by: Rod Searcey 

 
 

The 2022 BMI Prize Laureate
Prof. Robert M. Axelrod

The 2021 BMI Prize Laureate
Dr. John N. Nkengasong

The 2020 BMI Prize
Prof. Sabina Alkire

The 2019 BMI Prize
Dr. Peter H. Gleick

The 2018 BMI Prize
Prof. Michael Kremer

The 2017 BMI Prize Laureate
Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs

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The 2022 BMI Prize Laureate is Prof. Robert M. Axelrod, Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Emeritus, at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan.

 

The prize is awarded to Prof. Robert Axelrod for his contribution to the field of conflict resolution in its broader sense, focusing on his ground-breaking work in applying game theory to conflict resolution.

In his research, which employed the Prisoner’s Dilemma, Axelrod discovered that cooperative choices and beneficial behaviors, with punishments in place for those that do not adhere to such, are the best way to manage conflicts. He has applied his academic findings to modern conflicts, working with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in the former Yugoslavia and sitting down with professionals from all sides. Axelrod has also shared his ideas with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and published his research in Science and Harvard’s Negotiation Journal. The value of Prof. Axelrod’s research and policy engagement on conflict resolution has previously been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences (USA), with their award for Contributions of Behavioural and Social Science to the Prevention of Nuclear War, and by President Obama from whom Axelrod received the National Medal of Science.

 

For further information about Prof. Robert M. Axelrod:

 https://fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/robert-axelrod

https://www.societyforscience.org/alumni/notable/robert-axelrod/

The 2021 BMI Prize Laureate is Dr. John N. Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Dr. Nkengasong currently serves as the first Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is a leading virologist with nearly 30 years of work experience in public health. Prior to his appointment with Africa CDC, he was the Deputy Principal Director (acting) of the Centre for Global Health at the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Associate Director of Laboratory Science and Chief of the International Laboratory Branch at the Division of Global HIV/AIDS and TB.

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More information about Dr John Nkengasong on Africa CDC site:

Dr John Nkengasong on TIME 100 most influential people of 2021 list

The 2019 BMI Prize Laureate is Prof. Sabina Alkire,  Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), at the University of Oxford, UK.

The prize is awarded to Prof. Alkire for her exceptional contribution to our understanding of the dynamics and implications of poverty and the impact of this work on the struggle against poverty throughout the world, and in particular, in developing countries. Though a prolific scholar, undoubtedly her major academic contribution to addressing poverty is her collaboration with James Foster in developing the MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index), which does not only provide a headcount of who is poor but also provides the intensity of poverty at the household level.  Alongside her academic achievements, Prof. Alkire has devoted much of her career to working to address poverty in different societies through her leadership at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). 

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For further information about Prof. Alkire:

Sabina Alkire | OPHI

COVID response and impacts | OPHI

TAU’s Mints Prize Awarded to Poverty Expert Sabina Alkire | Tel Aviv University

The 2019 BMI Prize Laureate is Dr. Peter H. Gleick, Co-Founder and President Emeritus , The Pacific Institute for studies in Development, Environment and Security.

Dr. Gleick is a widely-recognized authority on water issues, having published in a variety of outlets including the leading journals in the field. Recognizing that good policy decisions rely on sound science, Dr. Gleick consistently works at the interface of science and policy. He committed to educating the public and is in fact an expert on public education about water issues.

Dr. Gleick has long recognized that as populations and economies grow, the traditional approach to water management is no longer sustainable. Thus, he has defined, described, researched, and advocated for a new way forward– what he calls the “soft path for water”. Dr. Gleick has become a central figure in decisions regarding the creation of a safe and reliable water supply in the face of a growing populations, climate change, and environmental degradation. 

Dr. Gleick was awarded this year’s BMI prize due to his world-renowned expertise and substantial contribution to facing the global challenge of freshwater – a challenge that is at the heart of the BMI’s vision and mission.

The 2018 BMI Prize laureate is Prof. Michael Kremer, Gates Professor of Developing Societies, Dept. of Economics, Harvard University.

Professor Kremer’s recent research examines the causes and consequences of poverty and global inequality. Within this area of research, he has focused on important factors such as education, health, water, and agriculture.

He has had an outstanding research record on issues related to poverty reduction, inequality and public health policy in a global context. Professor Kremer’s research has increased our understanding of global poverty in many different ways. The impact of his work on public action and on transforming local and especially global policy has been especially high, particularly in the field of public health policy.

Prof. Kremer is the 2018 BMI Prize laureate due to his outstanding scholarly accomplishments, as well as his significant contribution to policy making in the fields of global development, and in particular on the struggle to address inequality, poverty and food security – themes that are at the heart of the Boris Mints Institute’s vision and mission.

Prof. Kremer is the 2019 co-recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

The 2017 BMI Prize Laureate is Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs is one of the top leading public intellectuals in the domain of sustainable development. Throughout his career, he has established a new model of an academic scholar who, through untiring interactions with numerous governments and international organizations, has been able to not only deeply influence the global policy discourse on a wide variety of topics, but to also actually lead important practical policies and programs. Prof. Sachs is a well-accomplished, a globally well-known, well-networked and widely influential economist. He has made impacts in many countries and has raised the profile of important sustainable development challenges and issues. He has reached millions and influenced policy makers through his published work (books, articles, newspaper columns) and high profile speeches. His expertise on global economic development, macroeconomics, and advocacy against poverty are well recognized.

This unique record is deeply and closely aligned with the spirit and the mission of the BMI – the utilization of academic scholarship to affect global policy. In awarding the prize to Prof. Sachs we signal BMI’s global thinking and commitment to the most pressing problems of our time.