Current ISA Executive Director

Thomas J. Volgy

1995-2015
University of Arizona

Thomas J. Volgy received his MA and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota. He teaches courses primarily in international politics at the undergraduate, honors, and graduate levels. Previously, he was honored as the college's best teacher for his efforts.

Dr. Volgy's research interests include: international structures and international conflict; comparative foreign policy analysis; public policy analysis; and American politics (including voting behavior and the effects of mass media and gendered roles on political culture). His work has appeared in American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, International Interactions, Social Science Quarterly, Journalism Quarterly, Journal of International Relations and Development, Journal of Conflict Resolution, World Politics, British Journal of Political Science, American Prospect, Harvard Business Review, and New Republic, as well as other journals. He co-authored The Forgotten Americans (1992) about working poverty in America, Politics in the Trenches (2001), about democracy, local governance and changing political culture in the United States, and his latest book, is about the nature of the post-Cold War global architecture in International Politics.

Apart from his research and teaching interests, he has been active in the local and global community. He served in office for 14 years, including as Mayor of Tucson, and he assisted in democratization and public policy training programs in East Europe and Central Asia between 1989 and the present.

Past ISA Executive Directors

The Executive Directorship of the ISA has been held by the distinguished scholars listed below:

W. Ladd Hollist 1990-1995 Brigham Young University	William A. Welsh 1985-1990 University of South Carolina
James A. Kuhlman 1979-1985 University of South Carolina	Carl Beck 1973-1978 University of Pittsburgh
John E. Turner 1968 - 1973 University of Minnesota	Vincent Davis 1959 - 1968 University of Denver