Lyn Ragsdale
Lyn Ragsdale was an American political scientist. She was the Radoslav A. Tsanoff professor of public affairs, professor of political science, and Dean of Social Sciences at Rice University. She specialized in the American presidency, the United States Congress, and electoral behavior. Ragsdale died suddenly at home on December 13, 2020. Early work and education Ragsdale grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She studied political science at Arizona State University, graduating with a BA in 1974. She then attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, obtaining an MA in 1978 and a PhD in 1982, both in political science. In 1983, Ragsdale joined the political science faculty at the University of Arizona. In 2001, she moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago, and then in 2006 she became a professor at Rice University. She has also held positions at the University of Iowa and the Russell Sage Foundation. Career Ragsdale has co-authored two books: The Elusive Executive: Discovering Statistical Patterns in the Presidency with Gary King (1988), and The American Nonvoter with Jerrold G. Rusk (2017). She has also been the sole author of two books. She published Presidential Politics in 1993, and in 1996 she published Vital Statistics on the Presidency,