Dr. Ryan Kennedy Joins IDEA as Associate Director of Research Operations 

IDEA is proud and happy to welcome Dr. Ryan Kennedy as our new Associate Director. He also now serves as the Timashev Chair in the Data Analytics Department and Political Science at Ohio State University (OSU), a role that reflects his deep expertise in both fields. Dr. Kennedy has been a longtime colleague of IDEAs, contributing to the earliest Deliberative Town Hall field experiments when he was a graduate student at OSU. He continued collaborating with Dr. Neblo and Dr. Minozzi after taking a position at the University of Houston, where he became a full professor. At UH, he made significant contributions: founding the Center for International and Comparative Studies (CICS), serving as a research associate at the Hobby Center for Public Policy, and directing the Machine-Assisted Human Decision-making (MAHD) Lab. These roles highlight his ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and produce impactful research that spans various domains within political science and data science. 

Dr. Kennedy’s career also includes visiting positions at prestigious institutions like Harvard University and Northeastern University, where he worked at the Lazer Lab for Computational Social Science. His academic journey is rooted in rigorous training. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from Ohio State University and a B.A. in Political Science and Russian from Truman State University. 

Dr. Kennedy is an accomplished author. His book Introduction to R for Social Scientists: A Tidy Programming Approach serves as a crucial resource for social scientists eager to master data analysis. His research has explored vital areas such as democratization, computational social science, energy and environmental policy, and post-Communist politics. He has published extensively in top-tier journals, including Science, The American Political Science Review, and The Journal of Politics. 

One of his most notable research areas involves Deliberative Town Halls and public deliberation processes, where his work has been recognized with prestigious awards like the Heinz I. Eulau Award for the best paper published in The American Political Science Review. His studies in this field have provided significant insights into how public discourse can shape political outcomes and enhance democratic participation. 

Dr. Kennedy’s extensive experience and research in data analytics, political science, and public policy make him an invaluable addition to the IDEA team. His Director of Research Operations leadership will bring a new level of analytical rigor and strategic insight to IDEA’s initiatives. Given his track record of securing major research grants from institutions like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), he is well-equipped to guide complex research projects that drive innovation and inform public policy.  

 For a deeper dive into Dr. Kennedy’s work, including his CV and a complete list of his publications, visit Ryan Kennedy’s Academic Website: https://ryanpkennedy.weebly.com/