After a series of senior faculty retirements and junior faculty departures, Penn's beleaguered Political Science Department has at least one success to point to -- the recruitment of international politics scholar David Rousseau. Earlier this month, Rousseau joined the department from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Rousseau, 35, is making the move to Philadelphia with his wife, Lynn Warner, a post-doctoral researcher in sociology at Rutgers University, and their two children. Growing up in Rochester, N.Y., and later Los Altos, Calif., Rousseau attended the University of California at Berkeley as an undergraduate. His interest in political science developed in what he called "a roundabout way." Rousseau deemed his introductory political science course at Berkeley "the worst class I took as an undergraduate," pushing him away from the discipline and toward a major in economics. After receiving his masters in public policy from Harvard University, Rousseau worked at the Analytic Sciences Corporation in Arlington, Va. There, he says, his interest in political science re-emerged through work with national security issues. Rousseau then went on to complete his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan in 1996. Rousseau praised his old Political Science Department at SUNY-Buffalo but alluded to broader administrative problems in the university as a whole. "It was a good department to be in," Rousseau remarked, adding that "the entire SUNY system, not just [the Buffalo campus], has been under financial pressures and a degree of uncertainty recently." In his new post, Rousseau sees "a commitment by [Penn] to stabilize and to grow." He called it "an exciting time" for the department, one in which it can "continue to grow and to help shape the [University] environment." Political Science Department Chairperson Ian Lustick had high praise for Rousseau. "We in the Political Science Department are thrilled that David Rousseau is joining us," Lustick said. "He has an established track record of prestige publications and outstanding, innovative teaching." This fall, Rousseau will be teaching two international political economy courses in the department, one each at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He stressed that the undergraduate course is "open to anyone," noting that no background in international politics or economics will be expected. He added that the lectures "will mix abstract theoretical ideas, historical insights and current events." Rousseau is also slated to teach the department's introductory international relations class in the spring of 1999, a course that became extremely popular under former Political Science Professor Daniel Deudney. Though highly popular with his students, Deudney was forced to leave the University earlier this year after not being granted tenure. Several department and University officials said Deudney was denied tenure because of his failure to publish any of his book manuscripts. Deudney later accepted a teaching position at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Despite the pressures of simply "settling in at the University," Rousseau has begun to set some goals for his first semester at Penn, including the desire to have his first manuscript in the mail to publishers in the fall. Lustick noted that Rousseau is "a pioneer" in the use of information technology in his courses. "Students can expect to experience a far more interactive course than they may be used to in large lecture classes," he said. Meanwhile, Frank Zagare, the chairperson of the Political Science Department at SUNY-Buffalo, was sad to see Rousseau leave upstate New York for the bustle of West Philadelphia. "Professor Rousseau's scholarship is very visible [and] his work is attracting a great deal of attention among students of international politics," he said. "He will be very hard to replace."
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