Mary Jo Bane

Mary Jo Bane is an American political scientist who focuses on children and welfare. She is currently the Thornton Bradshaw Professor at Harvard Kennedy School, and formerly the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.

Early life and education Bane was born into a Catholic family. While attending Georgetown University, she campaigned for Senator John F. Kennedy's presidential election. She became inspired by his foreign affairs platform and joined the Peace Corps, where she taught schoolchildren in Liberia.

Career Bane joined the faculty at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1981, where she would become the first woman to gain tenure at the Kennedy School. From 1987 until 1992, Bane served as director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. A few years later, Bane was elected a 2003 American Academy of Political and Social Science Fellow.

A few years later, Bane was elected the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean, replacing Stephen M. Walt.

Bane is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Selected publications Here to stay : American families in the twentieth century, 1976 Welfare realities : from rhetoric to reform, 1994 Lifting up the poor : a dialogue on religion, poverty & welfare reform, 2003 Taking faith seriously, 2005