Kathleen Hale

Professor of Political Science and Election Administration Program Director, Auburn University

Kathleen Hale, PhD., is a professor of political science at Auburn University, where she directs the graduate program in election administration and its graduate certificate in the field. Her research examines how intergovernmental relationships improve public service capacity, and she is the author of the award-winning How Information Matters: Networks and Public Policy Innovation (Georgetown University Press 2011). She has been named a Donald C. Stone Scholar by the American Society of Public Administration and received the Robert Agranoff award from the American Political Science Association in recognition of her applied research bridging theory, practice, and community engagement. Her most recent book, How We Vote: Innovations in American Elections (Georgetown University Press 2020, with Dr. Mitchell Brown), examines the ways that different conditions foster and constrain innovation in the election administration environment. Along with Dr. Mitchell Brown and Dr. Bridgett King, she has fostered applied research projects published by Palgrave. Dr. Hale serves on the advisory board of the MIT Election and Data Sciences Lab and is a faculty fellow for the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University. She is also the editor of the Elections, Voting, and Technology book series for Palgrave Macmillan Press. Since 2011, she has directed Auburn University faculty in their partnership with the Election Center to professionalize the field including the CERA/CERV program, research projects, and publications with and for election administrators and system stakeholders. Together with Mitchell Brown, she established the Institute for Election Administration Research & Practice as a partnership with the Election Center, to encompass professional education, the Journal of Election Administration Research & Practice, applied research, and convenings for the field and its stakeholders.