John G. Geer

John G. Geer is Senior Advisor to the Chancellor, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair, and Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Poll. He earned his PhD from Princeton University and his BA from Franklin and Marshall College. Geer is past editor of The Journal of Politics. Geer has published widely on campaigns, elections, and public opinion. His In Defense of Negativity: Attacks Ads in Presidential Campaigns won Harvard University’s Goldsmith Prize. Geer is about to publish the sixth edition of Gateways to Democracy (2024). He has provided extensive commentary in the news media about American politics, including live nationwide interviews for FOX, CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, ABC, NPR, and BBC. Geer has also written numerous op-ed pieces for Politico, The Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and The Tennessean. His teaching has earned him several awards at Vanderbilt, including the “Squirrel Award,” the Birkby Prize, the Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, and the Vanderbilt Alumni Education Award.