We are pleased to announce that Dr. Mark S. Hurwitz will begin serving as the new Executive Director of the Southern Political Science Association on January 1, 2025.

Dr. Hurwitz, who received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, currently is a Professor of Political Science at Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dr. Hurwitz previously served as a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where his portfolio extended across the agency, including in the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. At NSF he also had responsibility in Working Groups for Navigating the New Arctic, Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation, Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks, and Science of Broadening Participation. At WMU he has served in the Office of Research and Innovation and in the Office of the Provost. He also acted as Editor in Chief of Justice System Journal.

Dr. Hurwitz has published his research on American Politics and Judicial Politics in leading political science and law journals, including American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, and Social Science Quarterly, and he is the recipient of research grants from both public and private funding agencies, including NSF and the National Institute of Justice.

Dr. Hurwitz welcomes the opportunity and privilege of serving our discipline and members as SPSA’s new Executive Director