David S. Meyer, sociology professor, is the 2017 recipient of the John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior. Awarded by the Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame, the honor recognizes Meyer’s extraordinary achievements in research and the role he’s played in mentoring successive generations of scholars.

Meyer studies social movements and their role in peace, war, democracy and public policy. He’s the author or editor of eight books – including The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America – and he’s published well over 100 articles, book reviews, and reports that have shaped our thinking about social movements and contentious politics for several decades. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American Sociological Association, the Urban Child Institute, and UCI Center for the Study of Democracy, among others.

Those who nominated him for the award emphasized his tireless work as a conscientious mentor. A group of his current and former students praised him for the attention he has given to their developing work while also characterizing him as a “constant cheerleader” who is “fully invested in supporting young scholars.”

Meyer will receive his award on April 1 at Notre Dame where he will deliver a public lecture. While there, he will also participate in a panel for the eight annual Young Scholars in Social Movements Conference where he and other senior scholars will provide advanced graduate students and recently minted Ph.D.s with feedback on their presented work.