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Ohio State University logo Department of Political Science

Richard Sisson
154 N. Oval Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210
(f): (614) 292-1146
email: sisson.9@osu.edu

Richard Sisson

Professor Emeritus of Political Science

  • Comparative Politics
  • Legislatures, Parties, and Electoral Politics

  • (Ph.D. Berkeley, 1967). Provost and Professor Emeritus, Professor Sisson has research and teaching interests in comparative politics with special emphasis on representative institutions, systems of political authority, and culture and democratization, particularly in India and other states of Asia. His current research focuses on regionalism and representation in South Asia as well as on the cultures, art and regionalism of the American Midwest.  His publications include War and Secession: India, Pakistan, and the Creation of Bangladesh; Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Preindependence Phase; The Congress Party of Rajasthan: Institution Building in an Indian State; and The Evolution of Political Knowledge, (2 vols.).  He has been a frequent contributor to edited volumes and a variety of professional journals, and in his new avenues of intellectual interest and research served as General Editor (with Christian Zacher and Andrew Cayton) of The American Midwest: An Interpretative Encyclopedia; and with Geoffrey Parker, of the Department of History, as co-editor of Ohio and the World, 1753-2053: Essays Toward a New History of Ohio.  His current research includes a project on Art and Authority in the Ancient American Midwest. He has been active in professional and community organizations having served as Co-Chair of the Program Committee of the American Political Science Association, Chair of the Council of Provosts and Chief Academic Officers of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, as a member of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of American Higher Education, and as President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Historical Society. He was extended the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Department of Political Science, and is currently an Institute Associate of the university’s Institute of Collaborative Research and Public Humanities. Before returning to Ohio State, he was a Professor of Political Science at UCLA where he also served as the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.  An amateur musician, he was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Opera, a member of the Board of Opera Columbus, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Santa Fe Pro Musica. Dr. Sisson served as Interim President of The Ohio State University, and until his retirement held the Board of Trustees Chair in Comparative Politics.


    Curriculum Vita (pdf)



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