2015–2016 Minority Fellows’ Institutions Announced
APSA announces the 2015–2016 Minority Fellowship Recipients. The Fellows are listed below with their graduate schools.
Renata Barreto-Montenegro, University of California, Berkeley
Ajenai Clemmons, Duke University
Kiela Crabtree, University of Michigan
Chaya Crowder, Princeton University
Dale Crowell, Catholic University of America
Elizabeth Jordan-Davies, University of Chicago
Aerik Francis, University of California, Los Angeles
Liwu Gan, Ohio State University
Luzmarina Garcia, University of Illinois
Jamel Love, Rutgers University
Ashlee Smith, Cornell University
Andrew Ifedapo Thompson, Ohio State University
Juan Valdez, University of Notre Dame
Andrea Pena-Vasquez, University of Notre Dame
Brianna White, Northwestern University
Bryan Wilcox-Archuleta, University of California, Los Angeles
Full biographies of the 2015–2016 APSA Minority Fellows were featured in the April issue of PS.
RBSI/MFP Alumni Academic and Professional Updates
Edgar Alfonseca, (MFP 2009–2010), now works with the New York City Departmet of Education as a data analyst after completing his MA in political science with Florida State University.
Cristina Arboleda, (RBSI Class of 2013), recently completed a year of study in Paris at the Université de Paris La Sorbonne while completing her bachelors in international studies at State University of New York.
Christina Bejarano, (MFP 2002–2003), associate professor of political science at University of Kansas, has authored “Latino Gender and Generation Gaps in Political Ideology” in the Politics & Gender 10(1): 62–88.
Hadill Calderon, (RBSI Class of 2014), is attending the University of Texas to pursue a PhD in political science starting fall 2015.
Bernard Fraga, (MFP 2008–2009), assistant professor in political science at Indiana University received the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award and the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Lucius Barker Award in 2015.
Dirk Horn, (RBSI Class of 2011 and MFP 2012–2013), has been named a Eugene Cota-Robles Fellow while completing his doctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine.
Murel Jones, (MFP 1971–1972), retired in the fall of 2013 from Elizabeth City State University where he had been serving as the dean of the School of Arts and Humanities since 2008.
Carlos Juarez, (MFP 1986–1987), professor of political science at Hawaii Pacific University, was awarded a Fulbright professorship in 2015 and is currently in Innsbruck, Austria as a visiting professor with the Management Center Innsbruck. This is the fourth Fulbright that Carlos has received (previsouly, Carlos was a Fulbright Scholar to Mexico in 2000 and to the Czech Republic in 2003 and 2005).
Greyson Mann, (RBSI Class of 2013), just completed the Princeton in Asia Fellow program where he developed his skills in the Chinese language and it’s various dialects, while also teaching youth.
2015 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Participants
Seated (L to R): Marty Davidson, Jesse Lopez, Brandon Chapman, Michelle Ngirbabul, Jordan Cater, Alexis Schramm, Isuara Peña, Isaac Singleton, Jr., Kennia Coronado, Jesiel Díaz-Colón, Romelia Solano, Kaneesha Johnson
Standing (L to R): Doris C. Cross, Paula McClain, Nura Sediqe, Phillip Parnell, Victoria Dounoucos, Juan Tellez, Alicia Reyes-Barrientez, Gloria Ayee, Jessica Carew
Anthony Neal, (MFP 1981–1982), associate professor of political science at Buffalo State College, has written an American government textbook that will be available fall 2015. The title is The American Political Narrative and it is published by Cognella. Anthony will also have his third poetry manuscript published in spring 2016.
Vanessa Cruz Nichols, (MFP 2009–2010), PhD candidate in the political science department at the Univeristy of Michigan, has received the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow Award and the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Award since completing her time as an MFP fellow.
Jesse Rhines, (MFP 1976–1977), retired assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University, recently finished a new book Blue Sky for Black America published by Nortia Press, 2015.
Amber Spry, (MFP 2011–2012), PhD candidate in political science at Columbia University, has been named as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Diversity Pre-Doctoral Fellow for 2015. Amber also earned her MA in philosophy from Columbia University in 2014.
Vesla Weaver, (RBSI Class of 2000 and MFP 2001–2002), is now an associate professor in African American studies and political science at Yale University. She has been on faculty with Yale University since 2012.
APSA STAFF SPOTLIGHT New Director of Publications
Many contributors to PS will recognize Barbara Walthall’s name because she has served as managing editor of PS for four years. In that time, APSA has greatly benefited from her hard work, extensive publishing knowledge, and attention to detail. She has recently assumed a new role as APSA’s director of publications. Barbara’s 30 years in journals and book publishing for several nonprofit organizations includes the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Learning Systems Group for the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice. She has authored and coauthored several articles, and as a production editor/manager she has completed nearly 150 titles. She cofounded and directed another nonprofit, the award-winning Firebelly Productions and won support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and Arlington County (Virginia) for this theatre company. Barbara earned a BS from Wheelock College and completed coursework at George Washington University’s Publications Specialist Program in editing, layout, and graphic design. Elsewhere, she received certificates in effective communication and grant writing.
WASHINGTON INSIDER Evidence-Based Policymaking Bill Advances through House
On July 27, the US House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2015 (HR 1831). Introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) with companion legislation introduced in the Senate (S 991) by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the bill would establish a 15-member commission tasked with studying how best to expand the use of and/or coordinate federal administrative data for use in evaluation of federal programs. The commission would also explore whether to establish a federal clearinghouse for program and survey data, which would be accessible to “qualified researchers” from the public and private sectors.
In the Next Issue...
Here is a preview of some articles coming in the January 2016 issue:
PROFESSION
How are we Doing? Data Access and Replication in Political Science, Ellen Key
On the Ethics of Crowdsourced Research, Vanessa Williamson
FEATURES
Two Faces of “Relational Turn”, Peeter Selg
Decision-Making at the State and Local Level: Does Science Matter?, Susan Mason
THE TEACHER
Assessing the Effect of Breakout Sessions on Student Success and Satisfaction, Elizabeth Oldmixon
Experiential Learning in MPA Programs: A Case for Complementarity among Internship and Service Learning Requirements, John Gerlach
Improving Accessibility for Students with Visual Disabilities in the Technology-Rich Classroom, Michael Taylor
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Executive Director’s Report
Organized Section Update
Pi Sigma Alpha Executive Director Retires
Sean Twombly, Pi Sigma Alpha
James Lengle stepped down as Executive Director of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, on September 30, 2015. During 20 years of service to the organization, Jim Lengle, along with long-time national office administrator Nancy McManus, revitalized an organization that today counts chapters on 800 college campuses and recognizes the academic achievement of nearly 300,000 members. Pi Sigma Alpha is a model for all academic honor societies with a respected record of supporting excellence in undergraduate research and scholarship.
Lengle, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University, was named executive director of the organization in 1993 with a mission to increase the value of the honor society to its members, local chapters, and the political science profession at-large.
Naomi Lynn, president of Pi Sigma Alpha at the time of Lengle’s hiring, noted then that his “enthusiasm and creativity will help encourage more active participation by chapters.” She was right. Lengle immediately set to the task, and the organization quickly became more active and financially secure than it had ever been since its founding in 1920. Lengle sought to professionalize the national office and ensure that chapters and members had an enthusiastic and imaginative support system in place. He also built a leadership structure that brought energetic and committed faculty members to the table and ensured a visible presence for the organization in the discipline.
Pi Sigma Alpha experienced exception growth under Lengle’s leadership. In 1993, Pi Sigma Alpha had 400 active chapters, and the organization has more than 800 chapters today. On average, 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students of political science are now initiated into Pi Sigma Alpha, compared to 3,500 inductees during 1993.
Under his leadership, Lengle sought to engage chapters and students in valuable, new ways. He created Best Chapter awards to recognize those chapters whose creativity made them models for other chapters; he added Best Paper awards to recognize student scholarship; he funded scholarship programs to support students enrolling in graduate programs and interning in Washington; and he extended financial support for chapters through the Chapter Activity Grant program. At the same time, he sought to position the organization as a contributor to the profession by funding lectures and best paper awards at national, regional, and state political science association conferences. Today, new programs offer a wide variety of opportunities for students. A focus on the value of undergraduate research led to the development of the student-run Undergraduate Journal of Political Science and the annual Undergraduate Student Research Conference. Both are exclusive outlets for exceptional work by Pi Sigma Alpha members.
James Lengle retired in September, 2015, from Pi Sigma Alpha after serving as its executive director since 1993.
Among the accomplishments for which Lengle is most proud is the percentage of money returned to members through programs and services. When he assumed the position of Executive Director in 1993 just $19,000 was directed into programs. By 1997 that figure had grown to $57,000. Today that number is $125,000, and Pi Sigma Alpha stands among the top three of the largest honor societies in the country in the percentage of budget devoted to programs and services.
“It is no exaggeration to say that today’s Pi Sigma Alpha would not exist without Jim Lengle,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, the current president of Pi Sigma Alpha and a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. “From the Best Paper awards, to the Chapter Activity Grants, to the new undergraduate research conference, Jim’s tireless efforts to Pi Sigma Alpha have transformed the academic lives of more than a generation of political science students on hundreds of campuses across the country.”
Lengle will remain on the faculty at the department of government at Georgetown University, his academic home since 1978. Lengle arrived in Washington after completing his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley under the tutelage of Raymond Wolfinger. Lengle’s research has long focused on American presidential elections, and today he lectures regularly to senior American federal executives and to visiting foreign dignitaries. During 2008, Lengle held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Politics at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, and he has served as president of the National Capitol Area Political Science Association.
In addition to his duties as Executive Director of Pi Sigma Alpha he has served as faculty advisor for the Delta Eta chapter at Georgetown since 1993. He is one of the longest serving advisors across all chapters of the organization.
As Pi Sigma Alpha nears its centennial celebration in 2020, the contributions of Jim Lengle will have an enduring legacy. The visibility of the organization in the profession—and honor society community—has never been stronger, and we have Jim Lengle to thank.
