AAAS Science and Human Rights Program

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Report on Science and Human Rights

Winter 2002 Vol XXII, No. 1

SHR Honors Herb and Louise Spirer

On December 10, 2001, the Science and Human Rights Program celebrated Human Rights Day with a special reception honoring Herb and Louise Spirer at AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC. For over 18 years, the husband and wife team have been innovators in applying statistical methods to human rights work, creating the field of quantitative human rights analysis.

Herb and Louise Spirer have published several journal articles and books, including Data Analysis for Monitoring Human Rights, which is among the most important resources on data collection for human rights field researchers. With SHR Deputy Director Patrick Ball, the Spirers also co-edited Making the Case: Investigating Large-Scale Human Rights Violations Using Information Systems and Data Analysis which was published by AAAS in 2000.

For thirty years, Herb Spirer was Professor of Information and Operation Management at the University of Connecticut at Stamford. Although he retired from the University of Connecticut in 1997, he did not retire from human rights work. Herb Spirer is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he teaches a course on human rights research, data analysis, and reporting. From 1992 to 1997, he served as a consultant to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals on the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Spirers have been active members and leaders of both the American Statistical Association’s Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights and the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.

According to Patrick Ball, the reception was an opportunity to acknowledge the “lasting contributions the Spirers have made over the years.” Former colleagues, students, and friends of the Spirers attended the event and spoke of Herb and Louise’s tireless commitment to advancing the quality of human rights research, their skill as supportive mentors to students and human rights professionals, their high standards and unwavering attention to detail, and their many kindnesses over the years.