Todo acadêmico brasileiro digno deste nome já ouviu falar, pelo menos, de Werner Baer.
Ele acaba de ser contemplado com um prêmio da Brazilian Studies Association pelo conjunto da sua obra, como relatado abaixo pelo brasilianista Randal Johnson. Ele vai ser homenageado no X Congresso da Brasa, a realizar-se em Brasilia, em julho de 2010.
Transcrevo a decisão do comitê de seleção e formulo, desde já, os meus melhores cumprimentos não apenas ao Professor Werner Baer, mas tambem ao comitê por esta judiciosa escolha.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Werner Baer: Lifetime Contribution Award
Dear Executive Committee Members,
As I reported to Marshall a couple of weeks ago, the Nominations Committee—composed of Ana López (Tulane), Bill Smith (Miami), Brian McCann (Georgetown), Jan Hoffman French (Richmond), and me—unanimously decided to nominate University of Illinois economist Werner Baer for next year’s Lifetime Contribution Award.
Two people were nominated for the LCA, Werner and historian Richard Graham. The committee recognizes both as “extraordinary scholars of Brazil,” so the difficulty was, as one member put it, “in choosing one for whom not to vote.” That same member indicated that “Hendrik Kraay’s letter on behalf of Richard Graham is eloquent in its indication of Graham's enormous influence in several sub-fields. I thought I knew Graham's opus well, but Hendrik's letter brought out some impressive aspects of which I had been aware, such as Graham's role in founding UFF's doctoral program in history.”
Regarding Werner Baer, another member of the committee wrote the following: “One of the unique aspects of Baer's work is the link he makes between historical, social, and institutional legacies of the Brazilian past and his direct and ongoing engagement with the most current issues of economic and public policy. For example, his 2009 well-balanced, co-edited book, Brazil under Lula: Economy, Politics, and Society under the Worker-President, is the first serious and multifaceted assessment of Lula's first term in office. As mentioned by Russ Smith's nomination letter, Baer's connections to his Brazilian students continue today. Almost two thirds of the 26 authors in the 2009 book are Brazilians, including diplomats, historians, specialists in regional science and public administration, as well as political science.”
All of the committee members acknowledged the very impressive scholarly achievements of both Baer and Graham, and several indicated that they would be happy with either as LCA recipient. The committee, however, felt it was important to consider other issues as well. One member wrote that “the two previous awardees have been a historian and a literato. All other things being more or less equal, perhaps it would be appropriate to recognize an economist. BRASA would like to recruit more social scientists and giving the award to Baer might send a signal to the scholarly community that our organization values the contributions of social scientists.” Another echoed those sentiments, indicating that with Baer’s nomination “we will be in a great position to do publicity in Brazil leading up to the award ceremony and hopefully bring [more social scientists] into the fold.”
I concur fully with my colleagues’ assessment, and I believe that recognizing Werner Baer in Brasília will be an important moment for BRASA.
Regards,
Randal Johnson
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