Rate My Professor Daniel Engster

Daniel Engster is a Professor of Political Theory and Ethics affiliated with the Political Science department in the University of Houston's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and Professor in the Hobby School of Public Affairs, where he currently serves as Associate Director of the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Colorado College in 1988, M.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 1991, and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 1996. Engster's academic career began as a Lecturer in Core Curriculum at the University of Chicago from 1993 to 1997, followed by a Visiting Assistant Professor position in Political Science at Tulane University from 1997 to 1998. He then joined the University of Texas at San Antonio as Assistant Professor of Political Science from 1998 to 2003, advancing to Associate Professor from 2003 to 2015 and Full Professor from 2015 to 2017, during which he also chaired the Department of Political Science and Geography from 2015 to 2017. Since 2017, he has been Professor at the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs, previously directing the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership from 2020 to 2025, as well as the Ethics Center and Civitas programs.

Engster's research specializations include political philosophy and public policy, practical ethics, contemporary political theory, care ethics, and relational equality. He has authored influential books such as Divine Sovereignty: The Origins of Modern State Power (Northern Illinois University Press, 2001), The Heart of Justice: Care Ethics and Political Theory (Oxford University Press, 2007), Justice, Care, and the Welfare State (Oxford University Press, 2015), and co-edited Justice, Politics, and the Family (Routledge, 2014) and Care Ethics and Political Theory (Oxford University Press, 2015). Notable peer-reviewed articles include 'Rethinking Care Theory: The Practice of Caring and the Obligation to Care' in Hypatia (2005), 'Care Ethics and Natural Law Theory' in The Journal of Politics (2004), 'A Public Ethics of Care for Policy Implementation' in the American Journal of Political Science (2020), and 'Street-Level Bureaucracy, Casework, and Justice' in Social Theory and Practice (2022). His scholarship has been cited over 2,600 times according to Google Scholar. Engster has received major awards including two National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships (2004 and 2011-2012), a Fulbright Teaching/Research Fellowship to the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2008-2009), the Pi Sigma Alpha Award for best paper at the 2002 Western Political Science Association Conference, and the Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from The University of Texas System (2011). He serves as a manuscript reviewer for leading journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, and Hypatia.