Lonna Rae Atkeson (born July 2, 1965) is an American political scientist. She is the LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar in Civic Education & Political Science and director of the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University. She is also an Associate Editor of the political science journal ''

Political Analysis Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws ...

''. Her research focuses on campaigns, elections, election administration, public opinion, political behavior, survey methodology, gender, and race and ethnicity.

Early life and education

Atkeson was born on July 2, 1965. She earned her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

and her doctoral degree in the same subject from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Career

Atkeson joined the faculty of political science at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

in 1995 as an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

and was shortly thereafter promoted to UNM Regents' Lecturer. Beginning with the

2006 United States elections Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 7, 2006, in the middle of Republican Party (United States), Republican President George W. Bush's second term against the backdrop of the war on terror. In a p ...

, Atkeson has published an election administration report detailing a systematic examination of New Mexico's November General Election. Some of her suggestions for improvement, such as ballots on demand were included in later election systems to increase efficiency. In 2010, Atkeson's work on the election process in the state of New Mexico earned her the Jay Taylor Best in Government Award from Common Cause New Mexico. She was also appointed the Director of the University of New Mexico's Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy and later to the Institute of Social Research. Westcott Building and fountain at Florida State University

Westcott Building and fountain at Florida State University

In 2018, Atkeson was appointed an Associate Editor of the official journal of the Society for Political Methodology and the Political Methodology Section of the American Political Science Association ''

''. Atkeson joined the faculty of political science at Florida State University in 2021 as the LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar in Civic Education & Political Science and director of the LeRoy Collins Institute.

Books

* ''Oxford University Press Handbook on Polling and Survey Methods'' * ''Evaluating Elections: A Handbook of Methods and Standards'' * ''Confirming Elections: Creating Confidence and Integrity Through Election Auditing'' * ''Catastrophic Politics: How Extraordinary Events Redefine Perceptions of Government''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkeson, Lonna Living people 1965 births University of New Mexico faculty University of California, Riverside alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni American women political scientists American political scientists American academic journal editors 21st-century American women academics 21st-century American academics