IQSS announced a change of leadership at the Program for Survey Research (PSR) in early June. Sunshine Hillygus, the founding director of the program, has accepted a faculty position at Duke University in the fall. Peter Marsden has agreed to serve as the next director.

Sunshine served as director of PSR since 2005. She demonstrated remarkable success in getting the program off the ground and in engaging scholars across the university in the intellectual and pedagogical activities of PSR, building a community that spans diverse academic fields. Under her direction, PSR held annual interdisciplinary conferences on survey methods that draw many scholars from diverse academic fields as well as survey practitioners from the commercial, government, and media sectors. Sunshine also worked tirelessly to expand instruction in survey methods, introducing new courses and producing a guide to related courses scattered across the university. Visit the program's web site, http://psr.iq.harvard.edu/, to find out about these accomplishments and review the numerous written resources produced by the PSR, such as a tip sheets on survey design and a library of essential handbooks and reference materials.

It is a testament to Sunshine's success that Peter Marsden, the Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of Sociology and Harvard College Professor, will serve as the next director of PSR. Peter is heavily involved in many aspects of the program, attending all of PSR's conferences. His extensive, distinguished, and influential scholarship in the field is extremely widely known.

Peter attended Dartmouth College (1973) and the University of Chicago (Sociology, MA (1975) and Ph.D. (1979), and taught for ten years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before joining the faculty at Harvard. Here he has served as Chair of the Sociology Department from 1992 to 1998, and again from 2002 to 2003. He is Chair of the Program and Admissions Committee for the Ph.D. Program in Organizational Behavior. His research interests are centered on social organization, especially formal organizations and social networks, with ongoing interests in social science methodology and in sociology of medicine. Peter has studied survey measurement of social networks and research methods for establishment surveys. In addition, he is involved in the ongoing data collection efforts of the General Social Survey, has been a lead investigator of three National Organizations Studies conducted between 1991 and 2003, and was a co-investigator on a project examining organizational approaches to the improvement of HIV care.

At Harvard, Peter has offered courses on organizational analysis, social networks, mathematical sociology, quantitative methods, research methods, and integrating micro- and macro-sociology. He has served on the Sociology review panel for the National Science Foundation, and currently serves on several editorial boards. Between 1991 and 1995 he edited Sociological Methodology, the annual methodology volume sponsored by the American Sociological Association. He serves as Chair of Harvard's University Benefits Committee and of its Health Plans Subcommittee.

Sunshine states that she is "delighted that Peter Marsden has agreed to take the helm of PSR. Peter is a world-renowned, well-respected scholar at the forefront of survey research. The program will be in good hands with Peter." In addition, Sunshine adds "I am immensely grateful for the hard work and dedication of the IQSS faculty and staff, and feel confident that Peter will receive the same committed support in his new role here."

Peter offers this statement regarding Sunshine Hillygus and the Program on Survey Research:

"Sunshine Hillygus has done a terrific job of developing a vibrant and multifaceted program focusing on survey data collection. PSR has brought top contributors in survey methodology to campus, highlighting both fundamental methods in the field as well as developing standards for survey quality and emerging innovations in modes and methods for survey data collection. Together with Chase Harrison, she has created an infrastructure that strengthens survey-based scholarship on campus, supports and enhances instruction, and makes tailored advice available to faculty, students, and scholars alike. It will be a challenge indeed to sustain the high standard Sunshine has set in leading PSR at Harvard under the IQSS umbrella. As she departs for Duke, we thank Sunshine for her lasting contributions, and wish her continued success in academic and nonacademic pursuits alike."