2024 Bellarmine Award
Professor of Economics Joseph Quinn, a leading expert on Social Security 和 retirement, 和 a highly respected teacher, mentor, 和 colleague who has held key leadership positions at Boston College is this year’s recipient of BC’s Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J., Award.
Presented at University Commencement May 20 by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., the award recognizes a distinguished faculty member whose significant contributions have consistently 和 purposefully advanced the mission of Boston College. It is named for Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J., an Italian cardinal 和 one of the leading figures in the Counter-Reformation.
Quinn “is an important scholar of the economics of retirement, 和 has been a great University citizen across the entire modern history of Boston College,” said Provost 和 Dean of Faculties David Quigley, praising Quinn’s 50 years of service to BC.
Quigley also commended Quinn’s “outsized contributions” to Boston College 和 said the University is a “far better, more humane place” because of them.
“It’s no accident that the modern trajectory of Boston College’s rise from near bankruptcy to national recognition as one of America’s great research universities has coincided almost precisely with Joe’s tenure in the Economics Department.”
Quinn said, “I have loved my time here, interacting with bright undergraduate 和 graduate students, wonderful colleagues in the Economics Department 和 across the University, 和 excellent administrators who lead this great University.
“We have had two terrific presidents [Fr. Leahy 和 J. Donald Monan, S.J.] during my five decades here, 和 I have enjoyed 40 years as a teacher 和 researcher in Economics, 和 nine years in the administration: eight as dean of the College of Arts 和 Sciences—which I loved—和 one as interim provost.”
During his long tenure, Quinn also served as Economics Department chair, was the James P. McIntyre Professor of Economics, 和 the inaugural NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative 和 chair of the Boston College Athletics Advisory Board.
He has written on the economics of aging, the determinants of individual retirement decisions, recent trends in the retirement patterns of older Americans, 和 Social Security reform. Quinn co-chaired the Technical Panel on Trends 和 Issues in Retirement Savings for President Clinton’s 1996 Social Security Advisory Council.
“I have loved my time here, interacting with bright undergraduate 和 graduate students, wonderful colleagues in the Economics Department 和 across the University, 和 excellent administrators who lead this great University. ”
Quinn co-authored the books Passing the Torch: The Influence of Economic Incentives on Work 和 Retirement 和 The Economics of an Aging Society, 和 has written more than 100 journal articles, monographs, 和 book chapters. A popular 和 respected professor, he has taught at the undergraduate 和 graduate levels.
He also is a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, where he has held leadership positions. Quinn received a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 和 a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, where he recently served as a member of its board of trustees.
“Whatever contributions I have made during my time at Boston College, I have received so much more in return,” Quinn said. “I came here from the graduate economics program at MIT, expecting to stay for two years, 和 I am still here nearly 50 years later!
“Boston College is a happy place, 和 I am so grateful to have spent my professional life here. Thanks to all who made this such a rewarding experience,” he added.
Quinn “has done just about every job on the Chestnut Hill Campus 和 seems to know almost everyone,” Quigley said. “It’s no accident that the modern trajectory of Boston College’s rise from near bankruptcy to national recognition as one of America’s great research universities has coincided almost precisely with Joe’s tenure in the Economics Department.”
Previous recipients of the Bellarmine Award are Thomas F. Rattigan Professor of English Mary Crane, Professor of Philosophy Patrick Byrne, Professor 和 Biology Chair Welkin Johnson, 和 Lynch School of Education 和 Human Development Professor Emerita Mary Walsh.