Diane Lowenthal is currently Assistant Professor of American Government at American University’s Washington Semester Program. Prior to joining the AU faculty in September 2000, Dr. Lowenthal taught American Politics courses (including Campaigns and Elections, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, and Women and Politics) at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA.

Dr. Lowenthal earned a PhD in Social and Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University in 1996. Her doctoral dissertation, “What Voters Care About: How Electoral Context Influences Issue Salience in Political Campaigns”, was funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

Dr. Lowenthal earned an A.B. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in Political Science. She graduated with distinction and high honors for her thesis on the Office of Economic Opportunity. She spent her junior year abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Between undergraduate and graduate degrees, Dr. Lowenthal worked as Director of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), Illinois’ oldest and largest multi-issue interest group. She has also worked in the Cook County (Illinois) Clerk’s office, on several campaigns, and for an independent public opinion pollster.

Current research interests include how memories for political events change over time, the role of third candidates in American Politics, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s role as the swing vote on the Supreme Court, and a phenomenon referred to as the multiple elections paradox.