Colby Eagles Alumni Association
John Mark Hansen, 1977
Copyright Colby Eagles Alumni Association @ 2014
Nominated by Maureen Reilley Downing
John Mark Hansen is one of the nation's leading scholars of American politics and has a distinguished career as a Professor of Political Science. John Mark Hansen, son of John & Joyce Hansen was born February 17, 1959, in Colby, Kansas. He graduated from Colby High School in 1977. He obtained a Bachelors in Political Science & Economics in 1981 from the University of Kansas, a Masters in Philosophy in 1983, and a Doctors in Philosophy in Political Science from Yale University in 1987. From assistant professor to associate professor of political science University of Chicago 1986-1994; professor political science since 1994; chair department political science 1995-1998; associate provost for research & education 1998-2001; dean division social science since 2002; professor government Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001-2002; member board overseers American National Election Studies 1999-2009; chair 2002-2009; coordinator task force on federal election system National Commission Federal Election Reform 2001. Hansen, whose research has focused on interest groups, citizen activism, and public opinion, is the author of two books: Mobilization, Participation and Democracy in America (1993) with Steven Rosenstone, and Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981 (1991). In 1999, he received the Heinz Eulau Award from the American Poltical Science Association for the best article published in the American Political Science Review in 1998. He also received the Outstanding Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists for Mobilization, Participation and Democracy in America in 1995. In 2003, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, fellow Center for Advanced Study in the Behavorial Sciences 1993-1994, research fellow in Government Studies Bookings Institution 1985-1986. John Mark Hansen has been listed as a notable political scientist by Marquis Who's Who. Membership: Fellow: American Academy Arts and Sciences. Member: American Political Science Association (council 1993-1995; executive committee centennial campaign 1997-2003; chair endowments committee 2000-2001, chair centennial center advisory board 2003-2004; Heinz Eulau award 1999), Phi Beta Kappa. John Mark Hansen lives in Chicago with his wife, Dana Saowalak and their daughters, Ary & Maya.
