Two Hunter College professors have won an award for sociological work that improves public welfare or the lives of members of their communities.
Professor Margaret Chin and Associate Professor Heba Gowayed won the Eastern Sociological Society Public Sociology Award, which seeks to recognize sociologists “who have both done cutting-edge sociological research and engaged in meaningful public work using that research.” The society gives the honor each year to a handful of scholars during its 2025 conference, “Building Solidarity to Break Cycles of Repression,” which will be held from March 6 to 9 in Boston.
The awards highlight Hunter’s role as an anchor institution serving as an engine of social mobility for New Yorkers and as a fount of impactful research and innovation and creativity across disciplines.
Chin, the chair of the Sociology Department, was named in the Post-Tenure/Mid or Later Career category. The society cited her for advancing the rights of immigrant workers and drawing attention to discrimination against Asian Americans. She is the author of three award-winning books, Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder, Sewing Women: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry, and The Peer Effect: How Your Peers Shape Who You Are and Who You Will Become, written with Syed Ali.
“I’m very proud of this award. It's so meaningful,” said Chin. “It’s been wonderful to be able to work at Hunter and do scholarship that matters to the community!”
Gowayed was cited in the Pre-Tenure/Early Career category for her public writing and activism on issues of immigration justice and Palestine. She is the author of the award-winning book Refuge, which follows the lives of displaced Syrians who sought refuge in the United States, Canada, and Germany. She is working on a second book, The Cost of Borders, which argues that borders, rather than being neutral demarcations between territories, are often the sites of official discrimination and deadly interactions.
“The honor is multiplied by the fact that I earned it here at Hunter, an institution I am proud to represent,” Gowayed said.
About the Eastern Sociological Society
The society was founded in 1930 to advance sociological research, promote the effective teaching of sociology, develop more vital relationships between sociology and related disciplines, and to use the tools of the social sciences to address social problems. It published a peer-reviewed journal, Sociological Forum, hosts an annual conference, supports workshops, and awards prizes for excellence in the discipline.
