Scholar, lecturer Danielle Allen elected chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board

NEW YORK – Danielle Allen, a widely known scholar on justice and citizenship issues, has been elected chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Columbia University made the announcement Thursday.

Allen is the UPS Foundation Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She replaces Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Company, which publishes the Tampa Bay Times. Board members serve a maximum of nine years while a chair serves for only one year.

Allen is the first African-American woman to chair the Board. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002 and is a frequent public lecturer and writer.

Her latest book, "Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality," will be published in June.