About
Biography
I was born in farm country near Plymouth, Indiana and graduated from a public high school there in 1971. Though most of my professional life has been spent in Louisville, I taught at a small college in Florida for one year before coming to UofL in 1980. I’ve also lived in California, Great Britain and South Korea, and traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and parts of Latin America. Hobbies include music (guitar), hiking, weight lifting, and biking.
Honors and Awards
Hoover Institution National Fellowship, Stanford, 1985-86
International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, 1987-88
Distinguished Alumnus, Purdue University, 1991
Distinguished Research Award, University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences, 1991
Senior Fulbright Scholar, Pusan, Korea, 1995
Career Achievement Award, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Louisville, 2001-02
College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Departmental Leadership, 2005-06
Listed in Who's Who in America, 1999-present
University Scholar, 2007-2012
A&S Career Award in Service, 2015
Distinguished University Scholar, 2012-2017
University Scholar, 2017-2020
Teaching Areas
Russia and Eurasia
Politics of Oil
Comparative Political Culture
Theories of Comparative Politics
Ride and Decline of Democracies
Art and Politics
Research Areas and Projects
Comparative Politics
Political Economy
Foreign Policy
Comparative Democratization
Russia and Eurasia
Activities
Briefed office of Assistant Secretary for Defense, Pentagon, on Russian-Chinese relations, October 2018.
Executive Director, Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations (since 1990)
Frequent participant, chair, and discussant at national and international conferences.
Conference Presentations
“Russia and China,” ISA roundtable panel (Zoom), 6 April 2021.
“America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and Policy in Central Asia,” Tillotoma Foundation international seminar (Zoom) on Central Asia, 16 May 2021.
“Afghanistan: The View From Moscow,” Farewell to Kabul workshop, Center for Global and International Studies, Indiana University, 5 March 2022.
“Neither European Nor Asian: Eurasian Narratives in Russian Politics and Foreign Policy,” international workshop (Zoom) on Narratives in East Asia and Beyond, Duisberg, Germany, 22 March 2022.
“The China Dimension and the War In Ukraine,” International Studies Association, 28 March 2022, Zoom.
"Diplomatic Approaches for the New Cold War," Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky, 28 October 2022.