Etel Solingen, political science Chancellor’s Professor and Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace Studies, has been named the 2018 National Academy of Sciences William and Katherine Estes Award recipient. The honor recognizes her path breaking work on nuclear proliferation to reduce the risks of nuclear war.

“Etel Solingen's research has long been impactful in security studies and nuclear arms policy. And peace and security studies has long been a strength of social sciences at UC Irvine in no small measure due to Etel's work and her visibility in the field,” says Bill Maurer, social sciences dean.

For more than two decades, Solingen has focused on the risks of nuclear proliferation and the domestic incentives of states for seeking nuclear weapons. Her research has also advanced our understanding of how policymakers can design effective policies to limit the risk of nuclear war.

Starting with two important articles in 1994, Solingen stood out as a pioneer in the theoretical understanding of why some states acquired nuclear weapons while others renounced them since the inception of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the “Second Nuclear Age.” Her book Nuclear Logics: Contrasting Paths in East Asia and the Middle East received the 2008 American Political Science Association's (APSA) Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book across all fields of political science, and the Robert Jervis and Paul Schroeder Award for the best book on international history and politics. It is recognized as the first systematic analysis in contemporary international relations connecting political economy, globalization, and nuclear choices.

She also authored Regional Orders at Century's Dawn: Global and Domestic Influences on Grand Strategy; Comparative Regionalism; Industrial Policy, Technology, and International Bargaining; dozens of articles, and edited several volumes. Her work remains on the major reading lists worldwide regarding efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

Solingen was president of the International Studies Association, ISA’s International Political Economy section, APSA’s International History and Politics Section, chaired the Steering Committee of the University of California’s system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and served as member of APSA’s presidential taskforce on U.S. standing in world affairs. Solingen received a MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Award on Peace and International Cooperation, a Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Foundation Fellowship on Peace and Security, a Social Science Research Council/Japan Foundation Abe Fellowship, a Lim Chong Yah Professorship at National University of Singapore, a Celia Moh Professorial Chair, a UCI Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award and an APSA Excellence in Mentorship Award, among other honors.

Solingen serves in the editorial boards of the American Political Science Review, International Organization, International Security, and other leading journals. She was distinguished speaker at prestigious academic institutions worldwide and participates regularly in diplomatic and academic meetings on international conflict resolution.

The Estes Award comes with a $20,000 prize. Solingen will be one of 19 honored at the 155^th annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences on April 29.