Professor Valerie Hudson of the Bush School’s Department of International Affairs has been named a Distinguished Professor, the University’s highest faculty honor. Hudson is one of seven faculty members who received the designation this year.
Distinguished Professors are faculty members who are renowned in their fields and who have made at least one landmark contribution to their discipline. They are recognized as pre-eminent authorities, and their accomplishments are exemplified by outstanding teaching, mentoring, discovery, and service. Past recipients of the lifetime title participate in the selection process, growing the ranks of Distinguished Professors by just a handful of scholars each year.
Dr. Hudson holds the George H. W. Bush Chair and is an expert on international security and foreign policy analysis as well as gender and security. Hudson directs the Bush School’s Program on Women, Peace, and Security. In 2009, Foreign Policy named her one of the top 100 Most Influential Global Thinkers. Her coauthored book, Bare Branches: Security Implications of Asia’s Surplus Male Population, and the research it presents, received major attention from the media, with coverage in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, and numerous other outlets, as well as receiving two national book awards. Hudson was also recently named a Distinguished Scholar of Foreign Policy Analysis by the International Studies Association.
Dr. Hudson has developed a nation-by-nation database on women, the WomanStats Database (https://womanstats.org), which has triggered both academic and policy interest. (The latter includes its use by both the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and various agencies of the United Nations.)
“Great faculties are formed around remarkable faculty members, and Dr. Valerie Hudson is exactly that,” said Dean Mark Welsh. She’s done remarkable work for women and women’s issues. It’s an honor to have her on our faculty, and it’s an honor to call her a colleague. Congratulations, Valerie. We’re all very proud of you!”
