Career Placement

The Department actively supports our students throughout their job search. The Director of Graduate Studies and the major advisors review all job market materials such as CVs, writing samples, and diversity and teaching statements.  In addition, the Department arranges special informational sessions, “mock” interviews, and practice job talks to prepare students for the kinds of questions they will face from potential employers. This support complements other departmental activities designed to professionalize graduate students, including brown bag discussions about attending professional conferences, publishing opportunities, and seeking grant funding.

Graduates from our program primarily pursue academic careers with the goal of a tenure-track position at a college or university. In recent years, our students have been offered tenure track positions at leading research universities such as Princeton University, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Florida State University, University of Pittsburgh, Boston University, Texas A+M, SUNY-Buffalo, Australian National University, London School of Economics, and George Washington University, among others. Our students also do well in obtaining positions at selective liberal arts colleges, such as Amherst, Grinnell, Wesleyan, Macalaster, and the University of San Francisco. Consistent with trends in the discipline, many students now receive a one or two-year post-doctoral fellowship after receiving their PhDs from our Department, and in recent years our students have been awarded many of these, including at Yale, Stanford, Brown, Northwestern, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Gothenburg.

Many of our students will choose to enter the private sector, the non-profit world, or government. In recent years our students have pursued careers such as Data Scientists, Consultants, Researchers, and Directors. Current graduate students can access here a list of Department of Political Science alumni who can serve as resources, sounding boards, and a network for students who are interested in pursuing nonacademic careers of various kinds. Current graduate students can also access here a sample resume and cover letter from an alum of our program who is currently working in the private sector. To access the documents on this page you will need to sign in to your UW Box Account.

Where our grads are now

Name Subfield Position Institution
Yumi Park International Relations Assistant Professor Copenhagen Business School
Andrew McWard International Relations Assistant Professor Denison University
Philip Bunn Political Theory Post-Doc Clemson University
Marcy Shieh American Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Miami University

Lotem Bassan-Nygate International Relations Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Princeton University

Harvard University

Kirstin Anderson Political Theory Assistant Professor Hope College
Jiaqi Lu Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Senior Academic Researcher

Georgetown

Boston University

Juan Qian Comparative Politics Instructor Chicago University
Levi Bankston American Politics Private Sector
Name Subfield Position Institution
Frederick Chen International Relations Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Nanyang Technological University

The Ohio State University

Anton Shirikov Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Columbia University

University of Kansas

Caileigh Glenn International Relations Post-Doc

Post-Doc

MIT

Duke University

Chagai Weiss Comparative Politics Post-Doc Stanford University
David Greenwood-Sanchez Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of Iowa

University of Iowa

Name Subfield Position Institution
Anne Jamison International Relations Post-Doc

Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Princeton University

Stellenbosch University

Copenhagen Business School

Camila Angulo Comparative Politics Assistant Professor CIDE
Devin Judge-Lord American Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Harvard University

University of Michigan

Dmitrii Kofanov Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Post-Doc

University of Barcelona

University of Pittsburgh

Anna Meier International Relations Assistant Professor University of Nottingham
Kaden Paulson-Smith Comparative Politics Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Sujeong Shim International Relations Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of Zurich

NYU Abu Dhabi

Micah Dillard International Relations Data Analyst

Data Scientist

Achievement First

Morning Consult

Michael DeCrescenzo American Politics Quantitative Researcher DRW
Ben Power International Relations Associate Oliver Wyman
Delgerjargal Uvsh Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Post-Doc

Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

New York University

University of Southern California

University of Houston

The University of Texas at Austin

Evan Morier Comparative Politics Data Analytics Developer Mathematica
Name Subfield Position Institution
Nick Barnes Comparative Politics Assistant Professor University of Saint Andrew’s – Scotland
Michael Masterson International Relations Assistant Professor Missouri State University
Maayan Mor Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of Barcelona

Tulane University

Anna Oltman International Relations Assistant Professor University College-London
Michael Promisel Political Theory Assistant Professor Coastal Carolina University
Katie Robiadek Political Theory Assistant Professor Hood College
Zach Warner Comparative Politics Assistant Professor Purdue University
Danielle Delaney Political Theory Assistant Professor Queen’s University
Name Subfield Position Institution
Desiree Desierto Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of Rochester

University of Pittsburgh

George Mason University

Rachel Jacobs Comparative Politics Assistant Professor Dickinson College
Susanne Mueller-Redwood International Relations Visiting Faculty

Assistant Professor

Mount Holyoke College

Montana State University

Camilla Rueterswaerd Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Research Fellow

Freie Universitat Berlin

University of Sussex

Rachel Schwartz Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Tulane University

Otterbein University

University of Oklahoma

Dan Walters American Politics Assistant Professor Penn State
David Lassen American Politics Community-Engaged Learning Program Director University of Notre Dame
Clarence Moore Comparative Politics Private Sector – Consulting
Name Subfield Position Institution
Zachary Barnett-Howell International Relations Post-Doc  Yale University
Hannah Chapman Comparative Politics Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Miami University

University of Oklahoma

Evan Crawford American Politics Assistant Professor University of San Diego
Katelyn Jones Political Theory Term Assistant Professor

Women, Peace, & Security Fellow | ACLS/Mellon Public Fellow

Independent Consultant

Non-Resident Fellow

Director of Quality and Research

Vice President of Policy, Research, and Evaluation

Barnard College

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

DynamicAlly, LLC

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

Kathleen Klaus Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Visiting Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Associate Senior Lecturer

Northwestern University

Wesleyan University

University of San Francisco

Uppsala University

Christopher Krewson American Politics Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Claremont University

Brigham Young University

Ning Leng Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Harvard University

Georgetown University

Ryan Powers International Relations Assistant Professor University of Georgia
Mark Toukan International Relations Post-Doc

Associate Political Scientist

University of Pennsylvania

RAND

Regina Wagner American Politics Assistant Professor University of Alabama
Jennifer Brookhart American Politics Fellow

Data Scientist

Lead Data Scientist – Cyber and Intelligence

Director of Cyber Analytics

Insight Data Science

Jungle Scout

Mastercard

Mastercard

Matt Scharf Comparative Politics African Regional Operations Advisor

Senior Advisor, Public & Government Affairs (Guyana)

Deputy Public & Govt Affairs Manager (Guyana)

ExxonMobile

ExxonMobile

ExxonMobile

Name Subfield Position Institution
Sirus Bouchat Comparative Politics Assistant Professor Northwestern University
Thomas Bunting Political Theory Assistant Professor Shawnee State University
Kyle Marquardt Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Associate Professor

University of Gothenburg

Higher School of Economics

University of Bergen

Ryan Powers International Relations Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Yale University

University of Georgia

Charles Taylor Comparative Politics Research Consultant

Research Consultant

Instructor and Course Director

American Friends Service Committee

Navanti Group

Foreign Service Institute

Samantha Vortherms Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Stanford University

UC-Irvine

Brianne Wolf Political Theory Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Ashland University

Michigan State University

Name Subfield Position Institution
Ethan Alexander-Davey Political Theory Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

University of Richmond

Campbell University

Sanja Badanjak Comparative Politics Post-Doc University of Edinburgh
Jessica Clayton International Relations Institutional Planner UW-Whitewater
Simon Haeder American Politics Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Associate Professor

West Virginia University

Penn State University

Texas A&M University

Bradley Jones American Politics Senior Researcher

User Experience Researcher

Pew Research Center

Meta

Dalton Lin International Relations Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Academia Sinica-Taiwan

Georgia Institute of Technology

James Sieja American Politics Assistant Professor St. Lawrence University
Benjamin Toff American Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Oxford University

University of Minnesota

Steven Wilson Comparative Politics Post-Doc

Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

University of Gothenburg

University of Nevado-Reno

Brandeis University

Dominic Desapio Comparative Politics Private Sector/Government
Casey Erhlich-Rollow Comparative Politics Manager of Research Review and Support

Senior Manager, Research Review and Support

The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Pew Charitable Trusts

Lynn Fredrikkson Comparative Politics Advocacy Director for Africa Amnesty International USA
Leah Larson-Rabin Comparative Politics Private Sector/Government
Shahirah Mahmood Comparative Politics Country Analyst

Evaluation Consultant

Easterseals

Easterseals

Easterseals

Freedom House

Spark Policy Institute

Grants Writer (Grants, Innovation and Program Development)

Senior Project Manager, Measurement and Evaluation

Director, Data Management, Measurement and Outcomes

Taylor Price Comparative Politics Private Sector/Government
Name Subfield Position Institution
Barry Driscoll Comparative Politics Associate Professor Grinnell
Kyle Hanniman Comparative Politics Assistant Professor Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario
Brett Kyle Comparative Politics Assistant Professor University of Nebraska, Omaha
Ruoxi Li American Politics Assistant Professor California State University-San Marcos
Jeff Paller Comparative Politics Assistant Professor University of San Francisco
Emily Sellars Comparative Politics Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Texas A&M

Yale University

Bill Egar American Politics Social Science Analyst

Data Scientist

Social Science Analyst

Senior Director, Data Science

US Government Accountability Office

The Lab @ DC

Congressional Research Service

Morning Consult

Name Subfield Position Institution
Adam Auerbach Comparative Politics Assistant Professor American University
Galina Belokurova Comparative Politics Assistant Director of Institutional Research

Senior Data Analyst

Assistant Director of Operations, Institutional Research

West Coast University

UC San Diego

UC San Diego

Inken von Borzykowski International Relations Assistant Professor

Associate Professor

Florida State University

University College London

Guangxin Fan Political Theory Visiting assistant professor Hong Kong Baptist University
Mert Kartal International Relations Assistant Professor

Associate Professor

University of Wisconsin-Steven Point

St. Lawrence University

Rebecca LeMoine Political Theory Assistant Professor Florida Atlantic University
Roseanne McManus International Relations Assistant Professor

Associate Professor

Baruch College

Penn State

Jacob Neiheisel American Politics Assistant Professor SUNY-Buffalo
Kristen Vekasi Comparative Politics Assistant Professor University of Maine-Orono
Se-Hyoung Yi Political Theory Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Trinity Christian College

University of Houston-Clear Lake

Vera Zuo Comparative Politics Visiting Assistant professor Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Ryan Biava Comparative Politics Affiliate Assistant Professor

Management Consultant, City-wide Strategic Initiatives

University of Washington Information School

City of Toronto

Nick Judge American Politics Programmer

Founder

Co-founder

Microsoft Advanced Analytics

RootProject

Judge Research

Yujin Kim American Politics Private sector/Government
Name Subfield Position Institution
Meina Cai Comparative Politics Associate Professor University of Connecticut
Jason Engle American Politics Consultant-Data and Statistics

Dean for Organizational Learning

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Columbia Basin College

Rob Gingerich Political Theory Private sector/Government
Dimitri Kelly American Politics Assistant Professor Linfield College
Sarah Niebler American Politics Assistant Professor Dickinson College
Saemyi Park American Politics Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Carson-Newman University

UW-Stevens Point

Mark Ratkovic American Politics Assistant Professor Princeton University
Kerry Ratigan Comparative Politics Assistant Professor Amherst College