The John Dunlop Thesis Prize in Business and Government is an annual award for Harvard undergraduates, provided by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Kennedy School.

Established in 2007, the award is given to the Harvard College graduating senior who writes the best thesis on a challenging public policy issue at the interface of business and government. Papers which examine the business-government interface with respect to regulation, corporate responsibility, energy, the environment, health care, education, technology and human rights are particularly encouraged, however papers on other topics will also be considered. A $500 prize will be provided to the winning entry.

The prize is named after John T. Dunlop, the Lamont University Professor Emeritus, a widely respected labor economist who served as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1969 to 1973. An adviser to many U.S. presidents, beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dunlop was secretary of labor under Gerald Ford, serving from March 1975 to January 1976. In addition to serving as secretary of labor, Dunlop held many other government posts, including: director of the Cost of Living Council, (1973-74), chairman of the Construction Industry Stabilization Committee (1993-95), chair of the Massachusetts Joint Labor- Management Committee for Municipal Police and Firefighters (1977-2003) and Chair of the Commission on Migratory Farm Labor (1984-2003). Dunlop served as the second director of the Center for Business and Government from 1987 to 1991. The Center, renamed in 2005 as the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and
Government, focuses on policy issues at the intersection of business and government. Dunlop died in 2003.

We are pleased to announce the winner of the second annual John T. Dunlop Undergraduate Thesis Prize:

WINNER: Michael Sperling: "The Unintended Consequences of Government Interventions in the Domestic Ethanol Market"

HONORABLE MENTION: David R. Porter: "Making Trade Fair: The Negotiation and Implementation of NAFTA Chapter 20"

Congratulations to both Michael and David!