Just want to point out that the Institute of Politics and the Department of Political Science are not the same thing. The Institute of Politics is an extracurricular organization that doesn’t confer degrees - David Axelrod’s effort to get the student body more invested in politics by bringing major players to UChicago for seminars/fellowships, creating community engagement programs, expanding access to political internships and experiences like the Iowa Project, etc. It’s a post where a “political/connections appointment” is a good thing. Axelrod also built the program from the ground up - if not for him, it wouldn’t be here.
The Department of Political Science is a separate division, chaired by Cathy J. Cohen, PhD.