Iowa State University professor of political science, David Peterson, has been selected to serve as the interim director of the Harkin Institute of Public Policy, a nonpartisan center housed at Iowa State that would focus on studying issues in the realm of public policy and public affairs.

A Minnesota native, Peterson has been at Iowa State for only three years. Prior to his position at ISU, Peterson spent nine years at Texas A&M. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

“I grew up in the upper Midwest; I went kindergarten through Ph.D. within 100 miles, all around Minneapolis and then moved to Texas,” Peterson said. “I’m glad, though, to get back to [the] upper Midwest. It feels like home in many ways.”

Peterson has taught a variety of classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and mostly focuses on Congress and state and local government. In the spring, he will teach research design and research methods for undergraduate political science majors.

Last year Peterson taught Women in Politics, despite his being the “least unqualified person” to teach the course. “It was a difficult class, kind of outside of my research area,” Peterson said.

At the graduate level, Peterson teaches research method and design, as well as a broad class in American politics. His main research area is American politics, including public opinion in elections, but he has also written about Congress, the Presidency, and currently the Supreme Court.

“One of the great things about being a faculty member, about being a professor, what makes this, I think, the best job, is you get to spend some time thinking ‘why’d that happen, what’s going on with that’ and you get to puzzle out an answer,” Peterson said.

Peterson has co-written two books, and is working on a third. The process of writing his first book began as an undergraduate with his faculty advisor. “I really encourage students to get to know their faculty,” Peterson said, “and to get involved with research.”

His first book, “Religious Institutions and Minor Parties in the United States,” focused on the link between religious ideals and the two major American political parties, and how that affects the support of third parties. His second, “Mandate Politics,” looked at how the belief in a public mandate by Congress affects its actions, historically. More recently, Peterson is working on a book that focuses on how candidate images are formed in the public eye, and how the voters’ perceptions of the candidates affect elections.

The institute was created in late April by the Iowa Board of Regents amid some controversy over its being named after five-term sitting U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The intent of the center, however, is not to reflect partisan ideas, but rather to house the papers of Harkin and to study and research the areas of public policy that are most of interest to him – agriculture, education, international aid and social welfare.

Part of the purpose of the institute is to help provide research opportunities to undergraduates and graduates, as well as provide money to other scholars to support their research. Peterson is very focused on designing the institute to find and fund best academic research on public policy topics and contribute to making Iowa State the best university it can be.

“The details of what the institute is going to do need to be worked out between me, the advisory board, the dean, the president, and since we’re searching for an advisory board, and searching for a new dean and a new president, all of this is still in a flux,” Peterson said. He said that although he’s the only person firmly in place, he’s not the only one who will be responsible for making decisions.

Peterson was approached about serving as the interim director over the summer. Elizabeth Hoffman, the university provost; David Oliver, interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Jim McCormick, university professor and chair of the Political Science Department, were all involved in selecting Peterson for the position.

Peterson’s research interests and academic background and expertise were key in making the decision to approach him for the job.

“One of the things that we were most interested in with the Harkin Institute is studying the Iowa Caucuses,” Oliver said. “Dave Peterson came up because this is something he just cares a lot about. A lot of his stuff has to do with the politics of opinion.”

As a state institution, permanent positions must be made openly available. However, because his appointment is only for one or two years, Peterson was able to be appointed without performing a wider search.

“He was the logical choice and willing to do it,” Oliver said. “He was such a perfect fit that there were really no others considered for the position.”

A long-term director will likely be sought both from within the university and from outside, but the selection depends significantly on how much money is available.

Being the interim and also the first director, Peterson has the responsibility to direct the initial organizational step that will be taken. “There is no advisory board yet,” Peterson said. “There is no charter or set of rules or mission statement.” Part of his job this academic year will involve drafting those and setting the course for where the institute will go in the future. “There really won’t be much in the way of programmatic activities this year. This is really more of an institution building year.” He said that he is hoping the institute will be fully up and running by fall of 2012.

“This is an institute designed to support academic research on the areas Sen. Harkin was interested in,” Peterson said. “Harkin’s interests will direct the agenda of the research, but not the content.” The research performed by the center will in no way be partisan, nor will it direct its research to support the views of Harkin.

Currently, Peterson is studying similar institutes at universities across the country, including the Domenici Institute at New Mexico State University, the Dole Institute at the University of Kansas, and the McConnell Institute at Louisville, among others, in order to see what is going well and what is not. He is planning to visit a few of the other centers in the spring.

Unlike many institutes at other universities, the Harkin Institute is not likely to have a separate building. “Buildings cost money,” Peterson said. “My vision is one where the money that’s raised is spent on research.” One of his goals is to support the students and, hopefully, bring in visiting faculty from other universities.

An advisory board, to be appointed by President Gregory Geoffroy, will provide oversight, and the Institute will report to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The advisory board will be appointed over the next six to eight weeks, Geoffroy said. “I hope to have the board appointments finished by the end of the semester.”

Peterson will serve as the director until a suitable, permanent replacement has been found. The search for that replacement, however, has not started yet.

“We won’t start the search until the funding is sufficient to appoint a permanent director,” Geoffroy said.

Currently, the university is working to raise the necessary funds for such an endeavor. The fundraising goal, in order to reach the amount needed to support an endowment, is $10 million. The budget for the institute will come out of that endowment. Geoffroy said that the university is hoping to have brought in $3 million by the end of the year. The level of funding needed to begin the search for a permanent director is such that it’s possible the search won’t begin until the new university president has been named.

“Of course,” Geoffroy joked, “if someone donated $10 million, we’d start tomorrow.”

It is still unclear where the search for a permanent director will begin, or what specific qualifications will be sought. “That will shape itself as the process goes along,” Geoffroy said. “Right now it’s premature to give too much clarity.”

Geoffroy did say that whoever is considered for the position will be someone of high national and international reputation as a scholar in the public policy field.