The School of Public and International Affairs has a history of placing PhD graduates in top institutions all over the country and the world.
POLITICAL SCIENCE & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
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
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & Policy
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