Institute for Research on Poverty explained

The Institute for Research on Poverty is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison dedicated to studying poverty and economic inequality. It was established in March 1966, as a result of an agreement between UW–Madison and the Office of Economic Opportunity.^[1] It is the oldest center for poverty research still active in the United States,^[2] and had over 150 faculty affiliates from universities across the United States (as of 2017).^[3]

Founding

The key figure behind its founding was Robert Lampman, a professor of economics at UW–Madison, who also served as the Institute's interim director.^{[1] [4]} Lampman did not expect the Institute to last for very long, as he thought poverty in the United States would be eliminated soon after its founding.^[5]

Directors

The following people have been director of the Institute:

• Robert Lampman (interim director; March–June 1966)
• Harold Watts (1966–71)
• Robert Haveman (1971–75)
• Irwin Garfinkel (1975–80)
• Eugene Smolensky (1980–83)^[6]
• Sheldon Danziger (1983–88)
• Charles Manski (1988–91)
• Robert M. Hauser (1991–94)
• Barbara Wolfe (1994–2000)
• John Karl Scholz (2000–04)
• Maria Cancian (2004–08)
• Timothy Smeeding (2008–14)
• Lawrence Berger (2014–19)
• Katherine Magnuson (2019–present)

Notes and References

1. Web site: History . Institute for Research on Poverty . en . 2017-12-13 . 2017-10-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171015200111/http://www.irp.wisc.edu/aboutirp/history.htm . dead .
2. Web site: UW-Madison's Institute for Research on Poverty named national Poverty Research Center . 2016-09-19 . news.wisc.edu . en-US . 2017-12-13.
3. Web site: Institute for Research on Poverty . La Follette School of Public Affairs . en . 2017-12-14.
4. Web site: Commemorative History of IRP, 1966–2006 . Institute for Research on Poverty . en . 2017-12-14 . 2017-06-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170622132834/http://www.irp.wisc.edu/newsevents/other/appam-irp40/irphistory.htm . dead .
5. News: At Poverty Conference, Gloom and Dashed Hope . DeParle . Jason . 1992-06-01 . The New York Times . 2017-12-14 . en-US . 0362-4331.
6. Web site: A brief history of the Institute for Research on Poverty . Evanson . Elizabeth . 1986 . Focus.