About Dr. Melissa Deckman
Dr. Melissa Deckman is a political scientist who studies the impact of gender, religion and age on public opinion and political behavior. She is currently working on a book about the seismic impact that Generation Z women are about to have on American politics.
Her most recent book is Tea Party Women (NYU Press: 2016), which examined the role of women in conservative politics. Her first book, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics (Georgetown University Press: 2004) won the American Political Science Association’s Hu Morken Award for best book on religion and politics.
Along with Julie Dolan and Michele Swers, she is the author of Women and Politics, a top-selling textbook on gender politics in the United States, now in its updated 4th edition. Melissa’s commentary and research about politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Hill, Vice News, The Wall Street Journal, 538 and Politico among other outlets.
At Washington College, Melissa taught courses on American politics, women and politics, religion and politics, research methods and state and local politics. Dedicated to promoting leadership opportunities for young women, she is the co-founder of Training Ms. President, a Maryland-based, non-partisan program that encourages young women to consider running for political office. She is proud to have conducted research for IGNITE, a leading non-profit organization that builds political ambition in young women across the country.
Prior to becoming CEO of PRRI, a non-profit research institute that studies the intersection of religion, politics, and culture, Melissa chaired its board and served as an Affiliated Scholar.
Melissa received her Ph.D. in Political Science from American University. A first-generation college student and proud proponent of the liberal arts, she received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she graduated class valedictorian. She also studied abroad in Costa Rica and Oxford, England while an undergraduate.
Born and raised in Maryland, she lives with her husband and two sons in Annapolis along with their poodle mix Jesse. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking and logging miles on her Peloton.