UIS Professor Steps Into Leadership Role At IGPA

An interview with Chris Mooney can be heard on the left-hand side of this page.

University of Illinois Springfield political scientist Chris Mooney will take over next month as the head of U of I's Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Mooney said the Institute's researchers and professors can bring together the university's resources to help lawmakers deal with the state's problems.

"That provides a longer view, a broader view, sort of a different take than they're going to get from their staff, from lobbyists and so forth. So it's a unique contribution," Mooney said.

The IGPA's workers for example helped to draft a proposal that legisalators are currently considering as they look to reduce the state's pension costs.

Mooney is a nationally recognized expert in state politics. He helped found the academic journal "State Politics and Policy Quarterly." He's also the author of a commonly used undergraduate textbook "State and Local Politics: Institutions and Reform."  

Mooney is the past director of the Institute for Legislative Studies at UIS, where he's been on the faculty since 1999.  He's been part of the IGPA faculty since 2004.

The Institute's previous director, Robert Rich, retired last summer citing personal reasons. Professor Fred Giertz has been in charge in the interim.

Mooney, who will make $201,000 in his new capacity, takes over August 16th, though his appointment is subject to the Board of Trustee's approval at its September meeting.

Mooney can be heard as a panelist on Illinois Public Radio's State Week in Review, which airs every Saturday at 11am on WILL 580-AM.