Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching ProfessorAssociate Professor of Political ScienceDirector, Applied Politics Certificate Program
Dr. Audrey Haynes currently serves as an Associate Professor of Political Science and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor with the School of Public and International Affairs. She is also the Director of the Applied Politics Program, which is part of an interdisciplinary certificate shared with the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science from the Ohio State University in 1996. As a faculty member of the University of Georgia, Dr. Haynes has committed her time to her students, her research, the University, and her broader community, but her priority has always been her students and the broad educational mission of the University of Georgia.
Through her service to the University as a faculty member, she has been recognized for her commitment to excellence as an instructor, researcher, and a mentor. She has served as a Graduate Coordinator, an advisor to multiple student organizations, and currently serves as Treasurer for Palladia. In her capacity as Director of the Applied Politics Program, she teaches/mentors students who hope to enter the career realm of public affairs. Part of this work involves bringing in practitioners from across the state and nation to interact with students, and this has included elected officials as well as lobbyists, campaign managers, political marketers, fundraisers, and policy analysts. This “first in the nation” program trains undergraduate students in public affairs communications, data analytics, and a wide swathe of professional skill development. She is entering the sixth year of leading this program effort. In addition, her instructional mission takes her to AP classes across the state, zoom sessions with fifth graders who want to be president one day, state 4H competition presentations, talking to news media across the country, radio listeners on GPB’s Political Rewind, and Australian televisions viewers interested in American politics. Most often, it takes her to Starbucks on College Avenue to sit down with a student and talk about their hopes and dreams.
Her research on presidential campaigns, messaging, and strategy has been published in major political science journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and the American Political Science Review’s P.S. Dr. Haynes has received numerous honors, including the University’s Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the Russell Teaching Award, and recognition as one of the Princeton Review’s “Best 300 Professors” in the nation. She is a two-time recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Outstanding Teaching Award. She is also recognized for innovation in teaching, particularly online teaching, and received the Regent’s Teaching Excellence Award for online instruction within the USG. Student organizations have also recognized her efforts as a teacher and mentor. She received the W.E.B. DuBois Educator Award from the UGA Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. and the SGA Outstanding Professor Award. Dr. Haynes, a first-generation college graduate, also holds an undergraduate and Master’s degree from the UGA and has received the Blue Key Faculty Service Award. She is currently working on an Applied Politics text for undergraduate students.
