M. Kent Jennings Makes "Political Science 400"

M. Kent Jennings, Professor of Political Science, has been identified as one of the 400 most-cited scholars teaching in political science graduate departments in the United States.

The article, "The Political Science 400: a 20-year update," was published by Natalie Masuoka, Bernard Grofman, and Scott L, Field in the January 2007 issue of APSA’s PS: Political Science & Politics, using data compiled from the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) for the period 1960-2005. The 400 scholars were grouped in 5-year cohorts based on the year in which they received their Ph.D, with up to 25 names listed in each cohort. Data was also published for the top 20 scholars in each of the major political science subfields. Jennings made the list both for his cohort group (1960-1964) and his subfield (American Politics).

The authors note that citation data is only one way "to measure a scholar's impact or academic contributions." Professor Jennings' response is typically modest. He points out that longevity is certainly an advantage in such a study: "The moral of this is to live a long time and have smart graduate students." Nevertheless, "those listed must surely be considered to be among the elite of the discipline," according to Dept. Chair John Woolley.

Jennings is a past president of the American Political Science Association and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received numerous awards and fellowships throughout his career, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the Ford Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes for Mental Health.