One of the key goals of the PhD program is to facilitate our students’ success in obtaining a job upon the completion of their degree. While many of our students pursue tenure-track jobs at universities, we also have a strong record of placing graduates in the public and private sectors as data analysts.

Recent graduates have obtained tenure-track positions at universities such as University of Missouri-St. Louis, North Dakota State University, University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska, University of Idaho, Auburn University, and Texas Tech University. Graduates have also taken prestigious post-doctoral fellowships through Duke University and through the American Political Science Association Congressional Fellows Program. Students have also found success in the private sector, working as data analysts for companies such as Luckie Advertising and Meta.

Based on a survey of recent graduates, 85% of graduates were employed full-time after graduating, 7% were in post-doctoral positions, and 7% were self-employed.

Please see our list of PhD students currently on the market.

Recent placements of our program graduates include:

Morgan Barney (PhD 2023)
ECS Federal

Charlie Carlee (PhD 2023)
ECS Federal

Chun Young Park (PhD 2023)
Assistant Professor, Nazarbayev University

Ryan Liou (PhD 2023)
Lecturer, Wabash University

Shanshan Lian (PhD 2023)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Human Rights at the University of Alabama – Birmingham

Jake Truscott (PhD 2023)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement at Purdue University

Mariliz Kastberg-Leonard (PhD 2023)
Assistant Professor, Northwest Missouri State University

Neil Williams (PhD 2022)
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Linan Jia (PhD 2022)
Assistant Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Adam Rutkowski (PhD 2022)
Assistant Professor, Troy University

Aaron Hitefield (PhD 2022)
Assistant Professor, Whitworth University

George Williford (PhD 2021)
Data Scientist, Meta

Jakub Wondreys (PhD 2021)
Research fellow, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

Joshua Jackson (PhD 2020)
Criminal Justice Research Manager, Arnold Ventures

Naji Bsisu (PhD 2020)
Assistant Professor, Maryville College

Annie Watson (PhD 2020)
Assistant Professor, Middle Georgia State University

Ethan Boldt (PhD 2019)
Assistant Professor, Endicott College

Jason Byers (PhD 2019)
Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut

Stephen Bagwell (PhD 2019)
Assistant Professor, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Austin Doctor (PhD 2019)
Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska – Omaha

Filip Viskupic (PhD 2019)
Assistant Professor, South Dakota State University

Sarah Hunter (PhD 2019)
Lecturer, Clemson University

Laine Shay (PhD 2018)
Assistant Professor, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Douglas Atkinson (PhD 2018)
Assistant Professor, University of Salzburg

Carolin Maney Purser (PhD 2017)
Social Research & Evaluation Center, LSU

Ryan Williamson (PhD 2017)
Assistant Professor, Auburn University
American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow

Chase Meyer (PhD 2017)
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina

Anthony Kreis (PhD 2016)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Hongyu Zhang (PhD 2016)
Assistant Professor, UNC-Wilmington

David Hughes (PhD 2016)
Assistant Professor, Auburn University at Montgomery

Florian Justwan (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, University of Idaho

Melanie Kolbe (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Sarah Fisher (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, Emory and Henry College

Chris Hare (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis

Joel Sievert (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University

Kayce Mobley (PhD 2015)
Assistant Professor, Pittsburgh State (Kansas)

Rachel Bitecofer, (PhD 2015)
Assistant Director, Wason Center for Public Policy
Lecturer in Government, Christopher Newport University

Phillip Marcin (PhD 2015)
Lecturer, University of Akron

Inyeop Lee (PhD 2014)
Assistant Professor, Spring Arbor University

Weiqi Zhang (PhD 2014)
Assistant Professor, Suffolk University

Mark Owens (PhD 2014)
Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Tyler
American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow

Jack Collens (PhD  2014)
Assistant Professor, Siena College

Luanne Serieux-Lubin (PhD 2014)
Contractor, United Nations

Jaeyun Sung (PhD 2013)
Assistant Professor, Lyon College

Austin Clemens (PhD 2013)
Senior Research Associate, Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M

Brian Levey (PhD 2013)
Strategic Analysis Enterprises, Inc
Senior Data Scientist

Carrie Eaves (PhD 2013)
Assistant Professor, Elon University

Karen Owen (PhD 2012)
Reinhardt University
MPA Director

Jon Polk (PhD 2012)
Lecturer, Unviersity of Gothenburg
Centre for Euopean Research

Murat Bayar (PhD 2012)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Paul Carlsen (PhD 2012)
President, Lakeshore Technical College
Chief Content Officer of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS)
Statistical and Research Analyst, South Carolina Department of Commerce
Economic Analyst, Louisiana Economic Development FastStart

Justin Moeller (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, West Texas A&M

Brandon Kliewer (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, Kansas State University

James Borders (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, Air Force Academy

Mwita Chacha (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for International Trade and Security

Jun Taek Kwon (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, North Georgia College and State University

Bradley McAllister (PhD 2011)
Research Fellow, St. Andrew’s University, Scotland
Assistant Editor, Perspectives on Terrorism: a journal of the Terrorism Research Initiative

Marie Milward (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, Trinity Washington University

Emily Wanless (PhD 2011)
Assistant Professor, Augustana College

Yongseok Choy (PhD 2010)
Ministry of Unification, South Korea

Regan Damron (PhD 2010)
Operations Research Analyst, Joint Analysis Warfare Center

Cale Horne (PhD 2010)
Post-Doctoral Fellow, International Center for the Study of Terrorism, Pennsylvania State University
Assistant Professor, Covenant College

Jeonghun Min (PhD 2010)
Assistant Professor, Northeastern State University

Michael Mitchell (PhD 2010)
Instructor, Georgia Perimeter College

Joshua Putnam (PhD 2010)
Visiting Lecturer, UGA
Frontloading HQ

Nitya Singh (PhD 2010)
Assistant Professor, Eastern Michigan University

Esther Skelley Jordan (PhD 2010)
International Republican Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology
Visiting Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dwight Wilson (PhD 2010)
Instructor, Farleigh Dickinson University
Instructor, North Georgia College and State University

Bryan Early (PhD 2009)
Research Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Assistant Professor, SUNY-Albany

Donald Lloyd (PhD 2009)
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Georgia

Ann Mezzell (PhD 2009)
Assistant Professor, Lincoln University

Henrik Schatzinger (PhD 2009)
Campaign Finance Institute, George Washington University
Assistant Professor, Ripon College
Associate Professor, Ripon College

Nathan Burroughs (PhD 2008)
Research Associate, Indiana University
Education Policy Center, Michigan State University

Matthew Fuhrmann (PhD 2008)
Research Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Nuclear Security Fellowship, Council on Foreign Relations
Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina
Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Michael Jasinski (PhD 2008)
Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Dongsoo Kim (PhD 2008)
Assistant Professor, West Liberty University

Laura Moyer (PhD 2008)
Associate Professor, University of Louisville

Daniel Reed (PhD 2008)
Assistant Professor, American University

Giray Sadik (PhD 2008)
Assistant Professor, Truman State University

Todd Collins (PhD 2007)
Associate Professor, Western Carolina University

Lichao He (PhD 2007)
Assistant Professor, Baylor University

Jess Morrissette (PhD 2007)
Assistant Professor, Marshall University

Kazuya Fukuoka (PhD 2006)
Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s University

Holley Tankersley (PhD 2006)
Department Chair, Associate Professor, Coastal Carolina University

Brian Harward (PhD 2003)
Associate Professor & Director of the Center for Political Participation, Allegheny College

Thad Hall (PhD 2002)
Professor, University of Utah

Lisa Holmes (PhD 2001)
Associate Professor, University of Vermont

Kiki Caruson (PhD 2001)
Associate Professor & Assistant Vice President for Research for Innovation and Global Affairs, University of South Florida

Kevin Pybas (PhD 2000)
Associate Professor, Missouri State

Roger Hartley (PhD 1999)
Dean of College of Public Affairs, University of Baltimore

Bradley Chilton (PhD 1988)
Department of Public Administration Chair, University of Texas at El Paso

Keith Gaddie (PhD 1993)
Professor, University of Oklahoma

Henry T. (Hank) Edmondson, III (PhD 1990)
Director, Center for Transatlantic Studies
Carl Vinson Chair of Political Science and Public Administration
Georgia College, Milledgeville

Placement of graduates of the PhD program is excellent. Placements have been primarily at major research universities including:

• Albany University – State University of New York
• American University
• Binghamton University – State University of New York (2)
• Cleveland State University (2)
• DePaul University
• Emory University
• Florida State University
• Georgia State University
• Indiana University – Bloomington (2)
• Indiana University/ Purdue University – Indianapolis
• Louisiana State University
• New Mexico State University
• New York University
• Ohio State University
• Pennsylvania State
• University Rutgers University (2)
• Seoul National University
• Syracuse University
• University of Arizona
• University of Colorado
• University of Florida
• City University of Hong Kong
• University of Kansas
• University of Minnesota
• University of Missouri
• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
• University of Oklahoma National
• University of Singapore
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas – Dallas
• University of Washington