Jennifer L. Lawless

Jennifer L. Lawless (born March 12, 1975) serves as the Commonwealth Professor of Politics of the University of Virginia and a faculty affiliate of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, in addition to being a non-resident senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

Early life & education Lawless was born on March 12, 1975, to John Lawless and Marjorie Mensch. Her father was a Wall Street broker for Dean Witter Reynolds for over 30 years. Her mother was an executive director of the housing authority of Middletown, New York. Lawless graduated from Middletown High School in 1993. She turned down a full scholarship to Columbia University to attend Union College, where she received her B.A. from in 1997 and her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2003; both degrees were in political science. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled "Women and Elections: Do They Run? Do They Win? Does it Matter?"

Career Lawless was hired as an assistant professor of political science and public policy at Brown University from July 2003 to June 2009, and was an associate professor from July to August 2009. She then joined the American University faculty in September 2009 as an associate professor of government and director of the Women & Politics Institute. Lawless later became a full professor in June 2013, and in April 2014 she became a non-resident senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. In August 2018 Lawless left American University to become the Commonwealth Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and a faculty affiliate of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

The central focuses of Lawless’s courses and research are women and politics, campaigns, and elections. Courses she taught at American University include: "Women & Politics," "Women & Political Leadership," and "Women, Politics & Public Policy." Her research regarding female candidates and election results is published in a number of political science journals, including American Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, The Journal of Politics, Politics & Gender, and Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. News outlets regularly quote this scholarship, particularly during campaign season. Her commentary has appeared in newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other local publications. She has also been cited on CNN.com, MSNBC.com, and FOXNews.com and has published on CNN Opinion on CNN.com.

Authorship With Richard L. Fox, Lawless is the co-author of three books: "It Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office". "It Still Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office" and "Running from Office: Why Young Americans Are Turned Off to Politics". She is also the author of "Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office", and of multiple Brookings Institution reports, which Emerge America, the Women’s Campaign Forum, and other women’s organizations that recruit female political candidates frequently utilize for their own work.

Electoral history In 2006, Lawless ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Democratic Primary in Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district. She did not win the primary and has not run in another election since.