Rate My Professor David Peterson

David A. M. Peterson is the Lucken Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Iowa State University. He earned a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota in 2000. His professional career began as an instructor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota from 1999 to 2000. He then held positions at Texas A&M University as assistant professor from 2000 to 2006 and associate professor from 2006 to 2009. Joining Iowa State University in 2009 as associate professor, he advanced to full professor in 2012 and was appointed Whitaker-Lindgren Faculty Fellow in July 2019, followed by the Lucken Professorship in 2020.

Peterson's research focuses on American politics, particularly elections, public opinion, and voting behavior. He has co-authored influential books including Ignored Racism: White Animus Toward Latinos with Mark D. Ramirez (Cambridge University Press, 2020), which received the 2021 Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association's Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section; Mandate Politics with Lawrence J. Grossback and James A. Stimson (Cambridge University Press, 2007); and Religious Institutions and Minor Parties in the United States with Christopher P. Gilbert, Timothy R. Johnson, and Paul A. Djupe (Praeger Press, 1999). Key peer-reviewed articles include 'Campaign Learning and Vote Determinants' in the American Journal of Political Science (2009), 'Heterogeneity and Certainty in Candidate Evaluations' in Political Behavior (2005), 'Mitigating Implicit Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teaching' in PLoS ONE (2019), and 'Electoral Mandates in American Politics' in the British Journal of Political Science (2007). He served as editor of Political Behavior from 2015 to 2018 and editor emeritus thereafter, with prior roles on editorial boards of the Journal of Politics and Canadian Journal of Political Science. Peterson has received numerous National Science Foundation grants as PI or co-PI for projects on campaign advertising, public opinion, and voter behavior; the 2018 Outstanding Teaching Award from Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the 2016 APSA Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Best Paper Award; and top 1% global peer reviewer recognition.