Team directory
Team directory
Paul Lendway,
Paul Lendway is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in political science at Yale University studying inequality, populism, and social movements. His research has been published in the Yale Journal of International Affairs, and he has presented his research at a wide range of organizations, including the American Political Science Association, the College of William and Mary, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. As an ISPS Policy Fellow, he will explore the social-psychological microfoundations of how populist appeals affect public policy preferences.
Jim Levinsohn, Director, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs & Charles W. Goodyear Professor in Global Affairs, Professor of Economics and Management
Levinsohn heads the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, the home of Yale University’s undergraduate and graduate programs in Global Affairs. He is also the co-Chair of the University Budget Committee, the university-wide committee advising the Provost on budgetary matters. In the classroom, Levinsohn teaches in both the Global Affairs programs as well as at the School of Management.
Diego Lopez, ISPS Director's Fellow
Diego Lopez is a sophomore in Berkeley College, majoring in Political Science and American Studies. He is from sunny Los Angeles, California, and is interested in pursuing policy related to the labor and voting rights of marginalized Latinx communities. Coming from a predominantly immigrant and low-income community, Diego is passionate about advocating for Latino civil and political rights. As a Human Rights Scholar at Yale Law School, his research focuses on social policy targeting undocumented Latinx individuals in the United States.
Theodore Marmor, Professor Emeritus of Political Science
David Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Emeritus
David Mayhew is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science.
Torey McMurdo, Graduate Student, Political Science
Torey McMurdo is a Ph.D. student in political science, focusing on U.S. foreign policy and international security. Her interests lie at the nexus of international relations, American politics and comparative politics. Her ISPS research examines Congressional oversight of the NSA, and whether this differs from the rest of the Intelligence Community. In addition to ISPS, McMurdo also serves as a Resident Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, and a Graduate Affiliate at Davenport College.
Clara Mejía Orta,
Clara Mejía Orta is a PhD student in the Department of History. Her research centers immigrant workers and Latinx labor leaders in the service sector and food processing industries in the United States. As an ISPS Fellow, she will investigate how immigration enforcement in meatpacking plants in the Midwest impact the workplace by deconstructing the lived experiences of meat packing workers from a policy standpoint. Prior to Yale, Clara was a worker organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers in Los Angeles.
Bilal Moin, Dahl Scholar 2021 - 2022
Bilal Moin is from Mumbai, India and reads Economics, Mathematics and Global Affairs in the Yale Class of 2024. He is interested in complex systems in the social sciences, especially in the context of social, and economic development.
As a Dahl Scholar, he will be working with Sterling Professor Ian Shapiro to analyze the political logic of pro-poor policy interventions. His project focuses on modelling the interactions between electoral strategies and development policy in Indian democracy to decipher its ‘paradox of poverty.’
Rourke O'Brien, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Rourke O’Brien is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of social and economic inequalities with substantive interests in household and public finance, economic mobility and population health.
Sandra Okonofua,
Sandra Okonofua is a PhD student in Sociology at Yale University. Her research interests sit at the intersection of social stratification, social policy, race, class, gender and education. Specifically, she is interested in exploring the connections between local government laws, policies and educational inequality across race and class. Before coming to Yale, Sandra worked as a school counseling intern in Massachusetts, a high school science teacher in Philadelphia and as a ghostwriter for industry leaders. Sandra is a proud daughter of Nigerian immigrants and a DMV native.