Betsy Sinclair, Chair of Political Science, has been awarded the Thomas F. Eagleton University Professorship in Public Affairs and Political Science, Feng Sheng Hu, the Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences, announced today.
Sinclair is a scholar of American politics and political methodology who has served as Chair of Political Science since July 2023. Her work has broken new ground in understanding how social context and political networks shape individual political choices, earning her the 2017 Emerging Scholar Award from Political Methodology section of the American Political Science Association (APSA).
Her 2012 book, The Social Citizen, won the Gladys M. Kammerer Award from the APSA, and she co-authored the 2018 book, A Connected America: Politics in the Era of Social Media. Her newest book on the politics of the primary election—its rules, voting behavior, and political representation—will, according to Dean Hu, "certainly extend her impact on the profession even further."
In Dean Hu's announcement, he goes on to say, "[Sinclair's] service to the university has been significant, through her essential work on the Arts & Sciences strategic plan as co-director of the Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures and now as the chair of the department. Her international impact on the discipline, methodological contributions, and service record demonstrate what an exceptional scholar she is and the caliber of contributions we look forward to seeing for years to come."
