by Gerry Everding
Steven S. Smith, currently the Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, will join the Washington University faculty in January as the first Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences in Arts & Sciences.
A prolific writer known for important research on legislative politics, Smith also has a strong reputation for innovative teaching methods.
"Smith has an excellent reputation as a teacher of both undergraduates and graduate students, and several of his graduate students have gone on to make important contributions to political science," said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences, "At the University of Minnesota, he took the lead in reforming the freshman-level course on American government and politics. He introduced new information technologies into his classes, including use of the Internet, and he has developed prototype software for social science research methods instruction in a virtual laboratory environment."
Smith also becomes director of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, formerly known as the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University. Known for introducing undergraduates into joint research projects at Minnesota, Smith plans to expand opportunities for students and faculty here to become more involved in Center research.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from St. Cloud State University and a doctorate in 1980 from the University of Minnesota. In 1987, he joined that university as associate professor of political science and was promoted to professor in 1990. He was named Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science in 1996, and Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Political Science in 1998. A senior fellow at the Brookings Institution from 1985-87, he has served there since as an associate staff member of the Governmental Studies Program.
Described as one of the most important and influential students of legislative politics of his generation, Smith brings an exciting approach to political analysis and public policy research. His research concerns the causes and consequences of institutional change, with increasing attention to the more difficult problem of the causes of change. While the major thrust of his research has been on the modern U.S. Congress, it has evolved over the years to include more historical studies of Congress and parliaments around the world, including the emerging Russian democracy.
Smith is currently co-editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly, having also been on its editorial board from 1987-89. He also has served on the editorial boards of American Journal of Political Science and Journal of Politics.
The author of seven books and 47 articles and chapters, he now is involved in three co-authored book projects. "The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Development of the Russian State Duma," which explores competing theories to explain the choice of agenda-setting mechanisms, committee system, party system and electoral system, is scheduled for release shortly. Due out in the next few years are books on the development of party organization and leadership in the U.S. Senate and on the influence of institutional arrangements on policy choices in the U.S. Congress.