Jepson and ILA Honor
Rice University Scholar’s Work on the Rise of Evangelicals in
U.S. Culture and Politics
October 10, 2006
The Jepson School of Leadership Studies and the
International Leadership Association announce that the
winner of the 2006 Jablin Dissertation Award is Dr. D. Michael Lindsay.
Lindsay wrote his dissertation at Princeton University
in the sociology department. The title of his
dissertation is "Faith in the Corridors of Power:
Religious Identity and Public Leadership.” In it, Lindsay
demonstrates
the mechanisms through which evangelical leaders have
risen in prominence and prestige in politics, business,
arts, the media and higher education. The dissertation
will be published as Oxford University's Press' lead
title in fall, 2007. The working title is "The New
Leaders: Faith in the Corridors of Power."
An assistant
professor at Rice University, Lindsay is a sociologist
who specializes in issues surrounding elites, religion
and culture. He is completing the nation's largest and
most comprehensive study of societal leaders who are
people of faith. At Rice he is the assistant director of
the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life.
The Jablin Dissertation award is given to the
dissertation chapter that makes a significant
contribution to our understanding of leadership. The
goal of the award is to encourage young scholars to do
more research on leadership. Submissions are screened by
a committee of Jepson School of Leadership Studies.
This
year's committee unanimously chose Lindsay's chapter on
the first round of voting.
The committee noted his dissertation was distinctive
because of the depth of his research and
because it lucidly documents how religious leaders
gained power and transformed debate about social and
public policies in this country. "While the main
focus of the chapter is not leadership per se,"
noted chair Dr. Joanne B. Ciulla, "his analysis of
the strategy used by evangelicals help us understand
how leaders make effective use of language, values,
and strategy to mobilize people and initiate
change."
Lindsay will present his work and receive the award from
Jepson professor Dr. J. Donaldson Forsyth, Colonel Leo
K. and Gaylee Thorsness Chair in Ethical Leadership, at
the annual meeting of the International Leadership
Association meeting in Chicago in November.
The Jepson School of Leadership Studies is the only
undergraduate school of leadership studies in the world.
Made possible by a $20 million gift from Robert and
Alice Jepson in 1988, the school uses the humanities,
arts and social sciences to study leadership as it is
practiced in a variety of contexts. The award was
established in 1999 to recognize new scholars who are
developing research on leadership. It was renamed in
2004 in memory of Jepson School professor Fredric M. Jablin. Each year, applicants submit a chapter of their
dissertation.
More on Dr. Lindsay
"The New Leaders: Faith in the Corridors of Power" abstract
Abstracts from previous Jablin winners
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