I am currently an associate professor in the Department of Political Science & International Relations at the University of Delaware.  I also hold joint appointments in the Department of Psychology, and the Black American Studies (BAMS) program.   I also hold an appointment with the University of Delaware Center for Political Communications.  Generally, I study American Politics (political behavior) and Survey Research Methodology (context effects), and teach courses in data and statistical analysis, public opinion, political psychology, and applied survey research.

 My research focuses on how individuals use racial, gendered, and other social group information to formulate their expressed public opinions and attitudes. In American politics this includes examining the ways in which group cues influence  public opinion.  In the area of survey research I focus on interviewer effects, question order and wording effects, survey experiments, and the role of social desirability in survey response.

I am currently working on projects examining resentment, how question order effects, the valence of measuring group attitudes, and the public opinion toward felony voting rights.

Prior to my position at U of DE, I was a Senior Statistical Consultant with The Gallup Organization in Washington, DC, and a Consultant with SPSS, a statistical software company.  I earned a B.A. degree in Government from Western Kentucky University, and a M.PA. (public policy and administration), M.A., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University.

Originally from Nashville, TN, I currently reside in Bear, DE.  I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, hiking, and a good work out through TRX, racquetball, or any aerobic exercise.