Lynn Vavreck (born 1968) is an American political scientist and columnist. She is the Marvin Hoffenberg Chair in American Politics and Public Policy at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and a contributing columnist to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Education

Vavreck attended Midpark High School in Ohio, where she was inspired by her chemistry teacher to pursue her interests. In 1990, Vavreck completed a bachelor of science in political science,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(ASU). From 1991 to 1992, Vavreck was a press advance representative in the

Office of the Vice President of the United States The Office of the Vice President includes personnel who directly support or advise the vice president of the United States. The office is headed by the chief of staff to the vice president of the United States, currently Lorraine Voles. The off ...

. She earned a master of arts in political science in 1992 from ASU. In 1996, she completed a master of science in political science in 1996 from

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

. Vavreck completed a Ph.D. in political science from University of Rochester in 1997 with concentrations in American politics, political methodology, and political philosophy. She completed post-doctoral studies at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Career

Vavreck was an assistant professor of government at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

from July 1998 to June 2001. She then became an assistant professor of political science at

(UCLA) in 2001 and co-founded the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP). In 2013, Vaverick published her book titled "''The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election,''" through the

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

which analyzed the 2012 presidential race between

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

. Beginning in April 2014, Vaverick became a contributing columnist for ''

publication, ''The Upshot'' after Nate Silver retired. The following year, she received a Carnegie fellowship from the Carnegie Corporation, which granted her $200,000 to fund her study of the impact of super PACs in the 2016 presidential campaign. Vavreck was the doctoral advisor to Michael LaCour during the ''When contact changes minds'' scandal. In January 2018, she became the Marvin Hoffenberg Chair in American Politics and Public Policy at UCLA. That same year, she published “''Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America,''" alongside

John M. Sides John M. Sides is an American political scientist. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996, and pursued a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. Sides then began his teaching career as an assistant pro ...

and Michael Tesler which analyzed the 2016 presidential election. Vavreck later collaborated with

Chris Tausanovitch Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

to collect data through the 2020 elections with a data-gathering and analysis project called Nationscape.

Selected works

Books

* * *

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vavreck, Lynn Living people 1968 births American women columnists The New York Times columnists Arizona State University alumni University of Rochester alumni Dartmouth College faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women writers American women academics