Irwin Morris Named to Lead NC State’s School of Public and International Affairs
Following an international search, NC State’s School of Public and International Affairs will welcome Irwin Morris as executive director, effective July 1, 2019. SPIA is a unit of NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Morris comes to NC State from the University of Maryland at College Park, where he has served since 1998, most recently as chair of the Department of Government and Politics. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His first academic appointment was at Texas Tech University.
Morris’ research in the field of American politics covers such topics as American institutions, race and ethnic politics, and Southern politics. He has authored or co-authored several books including Reactionary Republicanism: How the Tea Party Paved the Way for Donald Trump, with Bryan Gervais (Oxford University Press,2018). He has published an array of articles in top ranked journals such as Legislative Studies Quarterly; Electoral Studies; the American Journal of Political Science; Public Choice; American Politics Research, Social Science Quarterly and Political Behavior. He is working on a book on the 21st century transformation of Southern partisanship.
Morris takes on the SPIA leadership role from Trace Reid, professor of political science. Reid served as interim executive director for the last year, following the five-year tenure of international relations expert Richard Mahoney.
NC State University established the School of Public and International Affairs in 2006. SPIA encompasses the departments of Political Science and Public Administration, the International Studies graduate program, the Leadership in the Public Sector undergraduate degree completion program and the Public Safety Leadership Initiative.
