Lynne E. Ford is associate vice president for the academic experience and professor of political science at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. She served as associate provost for curriculum and academic administration for five years, was department chair for eight years and led a number of campuswide initiatives, including general education reform, faculty compensation and civic engagement. With teaching and research interests in women and politics, elections and voting behavior, political psychology and civic engagement, Dr. Ford has written articles on women in state legislatures, the underrepresentation of women in political office in the American South and work-family policy in the United States. She also authored WOMEN AND POLITICS: THE PURSUIT OF EQUALITY and THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOMEN AND AMERICAN POLITICS. She received her B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in government and political behavior from the University of Maryland-College Park.
Barbara A. Bardes is professor emerita of political science at the University of Cincinnati. She served as a faculty member in political science and dean of Mundelein College at Loyola University of Chicago. In 1993, she was appointed dean of the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash, serving until 2003. She returned to the Political Science Department, where she held the position of graduate director before retiring. In addition to writing articles on public and foreign policy and women and politics, Dr. Bardes co-authored DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE: WOMEN AND POLITICAL POWER IN 19TH CENTURY AMERICAN NOVELS, THINKING ABOUT PUBLIC POLICY, PUBLIC OPINION: MEASURING THE AMERICAN MIND and AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS TODAY. She received her B.A. and M.A. from Kent State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.
Steffen W. Schmidt is the Lucken Professor Emeritus of political science at Iowa State University. He has published 14 books and over 130 articles in scholarly journals and major newspapers. His numerous teaching honors include the Amoco Award for Lifetime Career Achievement in Teaching and Teacher of the Year. He is a pioneer in the use of web-based and real-time video courses, a founding member of the American Political Science Association's section on Computers and Multimedia, and a founding member of the USSTRATCOM academic alliance. Known as "Dr. Politics" for his extensive commentary on U.S. politics in both U.S. and international media, he comments on CNN en Espanol and Univision as well as CTV Canada Cable TV. Dr. Schmidt grew up in Colombia, South America, and studied in Colombia, Switzerland, the United States and France. He received a B.A. from Rollins College and a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University, New York. Dr. Schmidt is on Facebook (SteffenWSchmidt) and Twitter (DrPolitics).
