Laura Showalter

BA, University of the South; PhD, Emory University

Professor of political science Laura van Assendelft has been teaching at Mary Baldwin University since 1994. Currently serving as chair of the political science department, van Assendelft teaches a variety of courses in American Politics. She has published numerous journal articles and several books, including Governors, Agenda Setting, and Divided Government, The Encyclopedia of Women in American Politics (co-edited with Jeffrey Shultz), and two editions of Women, Politics, and American Society (co-authored with Nancy McGlen, Karen O’Connor, and Wendy Gunther-Canada).  She has also served on the American Political Science Association’s Presidential Task Force on Women’s Advancement in Political Science.