Appointed John R. Reitemeyer Associate Professor of Political Science
 
HARTFORD, Conn. – Kevin J. McMahon, a Trinity College faculty member since 2005, has been appointed a John R. Reitemeyer Associate Professor of Political Science, it was announced Wednesday by Rena Fraden, dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs. The appointment is effective July 1.

 

Also on July 1, McMahon, who is currently working on two books, Nixon’s Court: The Silent Majority and the Conservative Counterrevolution That Was and Winning the White House, 2008, will become chair of the political science department.

 

McMahon received a B.A. in political science and economics from the State University of New York, Potsdam, and a Ph.D. in politics from Brandeis University in May 1997. Prior to that, he taught for two years in Russia with the Civic Education Project, also known as the “academic Peace Corps.”

He was associate professor of political science and legal studies coordinator at the State University of New York, Fredonia, where he became tenured in 2003. Two years later he arrived at Trinity, receiving tenure in 2006.

McMahon describes his teaching style as “Socratic in spirit, driven by a philosophy that students perform best when they are asked to actively participate in their own learning.”

 

His research has examined a variety of topics, among them the presidency and the political origins and consequences of Supreme Court decisions, civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, American political development, political parties, and elections.

 

McMahon’s book, Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race: How the Presidency Paved the Road to Brown, received the American Political Science Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Award for the best book on the American presidency published in 2004. He also has co-authored Winning the White House, 2004: Region by Region, Vote by Vote, and co-edited Transformed by Crisis: The Presidency of George W. Bush and American Politics.”

 

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