Dr. Harold D. Clarke, an electoral analyst and political methodologist, editor of the prestigious scholarly journal Electoral Studies and joint editor of Political Research Quarterly, has joined The University of Texas at Dallas as Ashbel Smith Professor of Political Economy.

The arrival of Clarke and the two publications, coupled with UTD’s recent addition of another highly regarded journal, Public Administration Review, makes UTD one of the few universities in the country to have three leading scholarly journals in a school of social sciences.

Clarke, formerly a Regents Professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas (UNT), is expected to play a key role in the expansion of UTD’s political science program, specifically with regard to incorporating a Ph.D. offering. Additionally, Clarke brings an electoral studies program that focuses on the study of voting and elections, primarily, although not exclusively, in Britain and Canada. Clarke’s electoral studies program also will include worldwide scholarly conferences to be held at UTD.

Clarke will continue to serve as editor of Electoral Studies and co-editor of Political Research Quarterly, posts which originated during his tenure at UNT. Electoral Studies, an international journal that focuses on voting, electoral systems and strategy, is regarded as the premier publication in its field. Political Research Quarterly is the official political journal of the Western Political Science Association, serving academia from Texas to California.

“We’re thrilled to welcome someone with Dr. Clarke’s credentials to our campus,” said UTD Associate Provost Dr. Larry Terry. “We believe he will be instrumental in enabling us to achieve the goal of attracting top students to UTD via an all-inclusive political science degree program, specifically with regard to adding a Ph.D. offering.”

Clarke said he was “looking forward to expanding the political science program at UTD.”

Clarke has received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as grants from its British and Canadian equivalents, the Economics and Social Research Council (Great Britain) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada), for his work on British and Canadian elections.

Clarke currently is writing a book titled Political Choice in Britain, due in 2002, and is the author/co-author of more than 15 additional books, as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals.

In addition to his work at UTD, Clarke will continue to serve as a professor at the University of Essex in Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, England, where he teaches a two-week time series analysis course each summer in the Data Collection and Analysis program, which is sponsored by the European Consortium of Political Research.

Clarke received his Ph.D. from Duke University and his Master and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Western Ontario.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s Web site at www.utdallas.edu.