Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program Staff

Dr. Jean Garrison

Co-Director, Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program


Jean Garrison, Professor of Political Science and International Studies, has held a number of positions at UW advancing the university’s community engagement goals. These include serving as special assistant to the provost for community engagement in 2022-23 (leading UW’s successful application to be designated as a Carnegie Community Engaged Campus) and serving as special assistant to the president for engagement and then founding director of the Office of Engagement and Outreach and UW’s chief engagement officer (2017-2020). Her other administrative positions at UW have included serving as the founding director of the Center for Global Studies (2014-2019; 2020), former director of the Global and Area Studies Program/International Studies Program (2008-14), and interim department head for Modern and Classical Languages. In Fall 2015 she was a fellow at the Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG) – Transformative Power of Europe at the Freie Universität Berlin and is the past recipient of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship where she served in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the U.S. State Department. She also has been a visiting fellow with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in Washington, DC. She is co-editor of Polarization and Deep Contestations: The Liberal Script in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2024) and the author of three books, Games Advisors Play: Foreign Policy in the Nixon and Carter Administrations, The Making of U.S.-China Policy: Nixon to G.W. Bush, and China and the Energy Equation in Asia, and numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the area of American foreign policy. In 2021-22, she held the College of Arts and Sciences Seibold Professorship. She has received numerous teaching awards, the College of Arts and Sciences Extraordinary Merit in Research and Extraordinary Merit in Advising awards, and is past recipient of the President’s Stewardship Award. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of South Carolina and B.A. from UW also in political science.

 

Dr. Jason McConnell

Co-Director, Wallop Civic Engagement Program


Dr. McConnell is a true University of Wyoming legacy.  He followed in the footsteps of his parents – the other two Drs. McConnell – to attend UW where he earned both B.S. and M.A. degrees in Political Science.  After working in the private sector for some time, he returned to U.W.’s College of law, where he also earned a Juris Doctorate, completing a U.W. academic trifecta!  Eventually returning to academia, after another stint in the private sector, Jason earned his Ph.D. from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.
His research interests are the product of his diverse and eclectic education: free speech, campaign advertising, and courts as political entities.

 

Reese Davies
Byra Kite Intern

Reese Davies is an International Studies and Political Science major from Laramie, WY. He previously interned in Senator Barrasso’s DC office for the Spring 2024 semester. Reese grew up in San Diego, CA and enjoys sailing, cycling, and writing. His career interests include defense and foreign policy as well as English literature.

 

Saber Smith
Graduate Assistant

Saber Smith graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor's in criminal justice and political science. Currently, he is pursuing a master's in political science. During his undergraduate studies he spend time in several extracurriculars, mainly ASUW - the student government. He is from Gillette Wyoming and loves the state. Saver is either going outdoors, playing video games, or struggling to learn the guitar in his free time. He aspires to be an attorney in energy, patent, criminal defense, or constitutional law.