Ruth Mandel never has been, and probably never will be, a political candidate.

“You have to give away too much of your private time,” Mandel said. “Most candidates I know are out speaking seven nights a week, two or three times a night.”

So Mandel, a renowned political scholar who visited Iowa State as the second Mary Louise Smith Chair this week, is content to speak about women and politics, though she says she still keeps busy.

“When they showed me the agenda for this week, the first thing I thought was that it looked like one for a political candidate,” Mandel said.

Mandel visited two undergraduate classes, gave a formal speech on the status of women in politics Monday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union and attended an afternoon symposium Tuesday with women in leadership roles in Iowa.

As busy as she will be, her thoughts remain with the woman who made her visit possible, she said.

“I would hope that Mary Louise would be pleased and proud of what I’ve done here,” Mandel said.

Smith was the first and only woman to chair the Republican Party nationally, a position she held from 1974 to 1977. She died in August of this year.

The Mary Louise Smith Chair was created in 1995 to bring a nationally known individual to ISU each year. Mandel was at the top of the list of people Smith would have liked to see visit campus.

“To think of all the people she knew in many years of active life, it’s very flattering,” Mandel said.

“She was an extraordinary, genuine, lovely, caring, smart, committed woman.”

Mandel wanted to give a broad overview of the changing relationship between women and politics since the 18th century, but found a special reason to be speaking in Iowa.

“I would like to help encourage Iowa to join the rank of states who send women to the United States House and Senate,” Mandel said.

When researching before her visit, she found Iowa is one of only seven states that has never sent a woman to either the United States Senate or the House.

The other states are Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Mandel added Iowa may be further behind than it appears, as New Hampshire and Vermont have each had a woman serve as governor.

She remains realistic about the impact of her visit, however.

“I’d be happy to leave here having inspired the first woman president, but I realize that’s not very likely,” Mandel said.