Letter from the Chair

Jeff Legro
Photo by Sean Gallagher

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our inaugural issue of the Department of Politics newsletter. What you are will see in the links that follow is a department that combines the old with the new and is thriving because of it.

Consider the new. Last year we hired six faculty members who were heavily recruited by other top universities. They come to us from Harvard, University of Chicago, Yale, and Northwestern. And they bring cutting-edge methods and substantive expertise in new courses on corruption, congressional politics, religion and democracy, the politics of foreign investment, and non-governmental organizations in world politics. One of those hires, Vesla Weaver, graduated from our department before going on to a Ph.D. from Harvard. In this issue read how her work is remaking our understanding of race and politics.

Football is an old tradition at UVA. But were you aware that professors are helping coach the team? Check out how gridiron novice and Politics Professor Paul Freedman was the key to the Cavaliers big win over Miami this past fall in the last game ever played in the Orange Bowl.

Some of our newest grads are already making an impact on a world in need. Anne Stephens (’03 Honors) has joined some of her Stanford University classmates to help bring the rule of law to Afghanistan. Mission impossible? Check it out.

No one better represents what is good about UVA over the past fifty years than one man: Ruhi Ramazani. Now retired, Ramazani continues to embellish our reputation with his productive and insightful scholarship. In this issue he tells us – as he has for done for so long and so well – how to think about Iran.

You have received this letter because you are in some way a part of the proud past of the University of Virginia. Know that our door is always open and the Department of Politics remains a home for you at Mr. Jefferson’s University. You are also a part of our future. So please do send us your news, comments, and suggestions at .

With best wishes for a vibrant and happy spring,

Jeff Legro