The Institute for Research on Poverty is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison dedicated to studying poverty and economic inequality.
It was established in March 1966, as a result of an agreement between UW–Madison and the Office of Economic Opportunity.
[1] It is the oldest center for poverty research still active in the United States,[2] and had over 150 faculty affiliates from universities across the United States (as of 2017).
[3] The key figure behind its founding was Robert Lampman, a professor of economics at UW–Madison, who also served as the Institute's interim director.
[1][4] Lampman did not expect the Institute to last for very long, as he thought poverty in the United States would be eliminated soon after its founding.