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About our Keynote: Jennifer L. Lawless received her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University in 2003 and her B.A. in political science from Union College in 1997. She is currently an Associate Professor Government at American University, where she is also the Director of the Women & Politics Institute. Prior to arriving at American University in Fall 2009, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Brown University

Her teaching and research focus on gender politics, electoral politics, and public opinion. She has published numerous articles in academic journals, such as the American Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, The Journal of Politics, Politics & Gender, and Women & Politics. She is also the lead author of It Still Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and a Brookings Institution public policy report that is used by EMILY’s List, the Women’s Campaign Forum, and many other women’s organizations to help promote and recruit women candidates.  She also currently serves as the editor of Politics & Gender.

Dr. Lawless is a recognized speaker on the subject of electoral politics, frequently discussing these issues on national and local television and radio outlets. Her scholarly analysis and political commentary have been quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New Republic, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Boston Globe, the Pittsburgh-Gazette, the Seattle Times, the Hartford Courant, the Providence Journal, the Associated Press Newswire, Reuters, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, and FOXNews.com.

In 2006, she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Although she lost the race, she is very active in politics.  She has served on the national board of Emerge America since 2009.