Political Science

Aric and Megan StanoDavid Buehler
Class of 1967
College Professor
Providence, RI

I am a happy graduate of Wittenberg with a dual degree is History and Political Science. Among my many joys from 1962-67 (I took 65-66 off to become an early VISTA Volunteer in Oakland, CA) was meeting my wife Janet. Sadly, she passed away in 2022, but I continue to be in touch with her Delta Gamma roommates.

Janet and I both adored our advising professors Robert Hartje and Charles Chatfield. Charles was fresh from the Brookings Institution, and he especially challenged me to try out new adventures! Janet went on to an MA in American History at Boston University. I received a USOE one-year grant to teach Social Studies at Jefferson HS In Portland, Oregon, while earning a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Reed College. Reed sparked my interest in anthropology, Afro-American History, and the history of violence in the USA, on which I am now writing a book based on my 25 years of teaching philosophy at Providence College in Rhode Island.

We both cherished our years together at Witt and we were married in 1968 in Pleasantville, NY. Janet taught in a wide range of settings, including Adult Basic Education, Friends Academy, Fisher College, and Dartmouth Public Schools. I was drafted twice in 1967 and 1968, refusing but I registered as a Conscientious Objector to the War in Vietnam. We have one son who travels abroad frequently for the state dept. and reports to Samantha Power. his wife Hope Hempstone gave birth to one of our three grandchildren while they lived and worked the Embassy in Lesotho inside South Africa. Both she and Jake have Masters degrees from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where I studied Social Work at the University of Maryland in 1965.

Rick BirtRick Birt
Class of 2013
Director of the Washington, DC Highway Safety Office
Washington, DC

For the past five years, I've been the Chief Executive Officer of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), a national nonprofit that works on mobility safety, substance use, mental health, and more with middle and high school students in about 10,000 communities across the country. I moved to Boston and now Washington, DC, to take this role and have spent hundreds of hours in state capitals putting into practice what I was taught at Wittenberg - leverage the power of state and local governments for measures that advance the health and safety of young people.

I pursued an MPA, which I received from Ohio State. I recently accepted a position to be the Director of the Washington, DC Highway Safety Office and to serve as the Executive Highway Safety Officer for the Mayor of DC. I'm so excited to keep serving the public and to focus on my city.

 

Barry BurdenBarry Burden
Class of 1993
Professor of Political Science
Madison, Wisconsin

Education:

Ph.D. Ohio State University, 1998
B.A. Wittenberg University, 1993

Research Interests: Civic Engagement, Congress, Election Administration, Elections, Gender, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Representation, Voting Behavior

Biography: Barry C. Burden is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also Director of the Elections Research Center and is the Lyons Family Chair in Electoral Politics.

His research and teaching are based in American politics, with an emphasis on electoral politics and representation. He is co-editor of The Measure of American Elections, author of Personal Roots of Representation, and co-author of Why Americans Split Their Tickets: Campaigns, Competition, and Divided Government. Burden has also published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, and Electoral Studies.

Burden is affiliated with the La Follette School of Public Affairs, the Center for Demography of Health and Aging, the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership, and the Election Administration Project.

Advice: Find your passions, but also take in everything the university has to offer. I don't regret a single colloquium, Wittenberg Series event, or concert that I attended.

David DonofrioDavid Donofrio
Class of 2009
Executive Assistant and Candidate for State Board of Education
Grove City, Ohio

Advice: Politics is all about relationships, and communication. Take the time to shadow and meet with people in campaigns or political offices that interest you. Ask them how they got their start. Political parties are also your gateway to doing things the right way. Get to know people in party leadership, and ask them who you should get connected to, to achieve your goals.

Mary Jo Heacock Hagey
Class of 1969
Secondary Social Studies Teacher

When I registered at Wittenberg in 1965 I was Pre-law, Political Science and History. My intention was to go to law school. Third term my junior year I took an Educational Psychology class. My Senior year I took Teaching Language Arts and Social Studies and then student taught. I found I loved teaching and that was my entire career. I wanted to make Social Studies classes relevant and fun.

Having a Liberal Arts background made me a better teacher. I wanted to include the arts, music, environment, and sociology into my teaching. No matter where your Political Science major takes you the exposure to other disciplines will make you a better candidate for a job, will expand your views of the world, and will contribute to making you a well rounded individual. Although I was a student a long time ago, my Political Science classes have allowed me to be more discerning of current political discourse and more knowledgeable about past happenings which form our political structure.

Mitchell KittlausMitchell Kittlaus
Class of 1995
Associate Director for Equal Opportunity Programs, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

I work as the Associate Director for Equal Opportunity Programs at the University of Chicago. Our team leads the university’s efforts to ensure equal employment opportunity in the recruitment, hiring, and advancement of women, minorities, individuals with disability, and protected veterans. Our compliance efforts are based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

My advice to students: challenge yourself to engage with people who are different than you.  Talking with people who have different backgrounds, life experiences, values, beliefs, and opinions will broaden your perspective and enrich your life.

William VockeWilliam Vocke
Class of 1968
Professor, International Education, Executive Director Fulbright Taiwan
Taitung, Taiwan

Dr. Vocke’s career is dedicated to international education. He was Executive Director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (FSE or Fulbright Taiwan) for almost nine years, and led the world’s first Fulbright Program to a new vision and mission: “a world with a little more knowledge and a little less conflict.” Retiring from FSE, he now works pro bono with non-profits.

Will’s career has 3+ related phases. Currently in this + period, Will is on the Board of Directors of the national Fulbright Association (FA) as Treasurer; is a Senior Advisor, Taiwan Representative and VP to the Western Pacific Fellowship Project (WPFP); and is a founding Executive Board member of the Association of International Cultural and Educational Exchange (ACIEE) in Taiwan. He continues to research and teach public diplomacy at the graduate level.

The last phase focused on public diplomacy, international educational exchange, and Taiwan. The previous 15 years were with World Affairs Councils in international public education, and in the first phase he spent about 20 years as a professor, international educator, and college administrator.

At FSE from 2011 to late 2019, Taiwanese and Americans were offered scholarships in three categories: scholars, students, and language teachers. During his tenure, the budget grew 273%, more than twenty-five million additional U.S. dollars were raised, FSE became 83% Taiwanese funded, the program increased from 107 to 250+ grantees per year, and almost 600 additional grantees were able to participate. This last, Taiwan, phase began in 2004-2008. Will was a full-time Professor in the Department of Diplomacy at National Cheng Chi University (NCCU) and taught at Taiwan's Foreign Service Institute and at the Ministry of Justice International Investigation Bureau. He also consulted and was a Board Member of the American Chamber of Commerce and of FSE. When his wife was posted to NYC in 2008-2011, Will followed, and was a Senior Fellow and Program Director at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, where he developed new partnerships and the Carnegie Ethics Studio, a broadcast platform for ideas on ethics, foreign policy, and international relations. They returned to Taiwan in 2011 when he was invited to lead FSE.

The middle phase began when the Cold War ended. Will gave up college tenure in 1990 to become active in international public education, seeking to impact the rapidly changing world. He became President of the World Affairs Council of Greater Cincinnati, then National President of the 90+ member World Affairs Councils of America, and Executive Director of the Worlds Affairs Council of Milwaukee, where he was also a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The earliest phase began at SUNY Geneseo, and then Dr. Vocke was a senior administrator and IR professor for 18+years at Juniata College. He founded their Lugar Award winning International Education Program, and taught on sabbatical in Germany and France. Will’s Ph.D. is from the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of South Carolina under Charles Kegley.

He has actively contributed on dozens of non-profit Boards, and is a successful local and national fund raiser for them. He also produced and hosted over 600 television and radio programs on PBS stations in Milwaukee and Cincinnati. They now migrate between family in Greensboro, NC and the Vocke & Li Organic Tea Farm in Taitung, Taiwan. Dr. Carol Li Vocke is a retired diplomat and international education specialist.

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