Political Science Faculty ⋆ TUSCULUM UNIVERSITY

Shelby E. Ward, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. She graduated with her doctorate in Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought from Virginia Tech in 2019, and was an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Emerging Voices Fellow for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin from 2021-22. Her work in postcolonial thought and politics intersects within political theory, critical international relations, and cultural analysis. Recent publications include chapters in the edited collections, Posthumanist Nomadisms across non-Oedipal Spatiality and Transnational Spaces, as well as articles in the journals, Critical Studies in Security, PERIPHERIE, and New Political Science.

Ronnie Grant, PhD, JD joins the Tusculum University community from Eastern Oregon, where he grew up on a small peach orchard. He recently completed a PhD in International Relations (Major Field: International Law, Minor Field: International Political Economy) at Florida International University in Miami, FL. Previously, he completed an MBA in Global Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona State University) and a JD at the University of Puerto Rico, during which time he studied Brazilian law as a visiting student at the University of São Paulo. As an undergraduate, he studied Economics and Spanish (double major) at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. He is bi-lingual (Spanish) and has advanced fluency in Portuguese.

At Tusculum, Ronnie primarily teaches courses in legal studies such as Environmental Law, US Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties & Civil Rights, and International Law, as well as the general education course in American Government.

Outside of the classroom, in addition to spending time with his family, some of Ronnie’s passions include playing and coaching baseball, hiking, and mountain biking.

As a first-generation college graduate who had a transformative undergraduate experience, Ronnie is excited to join the faculty at Tusculum, where he hopes to contribute to delivering the same for TU students.

Richard A Miller, MPP is the associate vice president for institutional research and effectiveness (aka Purveyor of Fine Facts, and Campus Provocateur).

Richard came to Tusculum in 2021. He is a first-generation college graduate. His mom is an Alaskan from the remote native village of Ilnik (Bristol Bay). His dad was a self-taught engineer from Pennsylvania’s coal mining country. Of note, Richard can trace some of his family to the community near Tusculum called Flag Pond! Having parents born during the Depression, he was taught the value of hard work and the value of education. Richard walked in family’s footsteps by working his way through college on commercial fishing boats in Alaska and the Chesapeake Bay.

After graduating from Maryland’s National Honors College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Richard attended the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, earning a Master of Public Policy with a focus on economics and domestic policy. There, his teachers included a number of Nobel laureates. The highlight of his graduate studies was a two-time internship (1988 and 1989) in the executive office of the president (Office of Management and Budget), serving during the transition terms of Presidents Reagan and Bush.
Richard has worked in the IR/IE field for 25 years and has helped dozens of institutions through accreditation and planning. He has also served as an accreditation reviewer in the Middle East. Richard also serves as a referee for the Journal of College Student Retention. He has guest lectured as visiting instructor of American Government and Political Economy, referring to himself as an “ambidextrous social scientist.” About one third of first-year Tusculum students take his POLS 110 class. Richard holds a planning certificate from the Society for College and University Planning’s institute. He lives nearby in Washington County, where he maintains a woodworking shop, making pens and furniture.

Meagan Stark is a political scientist with a bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University and a master’s degree from Syracuse University. She is currently a higher education professional at Tusculum University, working for a federal TRIO program tasked with helping at-risk students succeed at the collegiate level.