Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Ph.D.

Dr. Jeanne Sheehan Zaino is a professor of Political Science & International Studies at Iona University (NY, USA). A pollster by training, she is also political contributor with Bloomberg News, a Senior Democracy Fellow with the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress [CSPC], an affiliated faculty member with the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), a member of the International Advisory Board for South Asia Research, and author of several books and articles, including her most recent book  Sikander Hyat-Khan: Collected Papers of The Premier of United Punjab, 1928-1942 (Primus 2024) and the forthcoming America Democracy in Crisis: The Case for Rethinking Madisonian Government, Post-January 6 (Palgrave MacMillian 2025). Along with four colleagues at Iona who form the Data Science working group she was recently awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Division of Undergraduate Education for a project entitled "Data Science for Future Leaders."

More on Dr. Sheehan Zaino and her work can be found on www.jeannesheehanzaino.net.

Jeanne is professor of Political Science & International Studies at Iona University (NY, USA). A pollster and data analyst by training, she is also senior democracy fellow at The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington DC, political contributor with Bloomberg News, an affiliated faculty member with the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), a member of the International Advisory Board for South Asia Research and the author of several books including the recently published Sikander Hyat-Khan: Collected Papers of The Premier of United Punjab, 1928-1942 (Primus, 2024), as well as the soon to be released American Democracy in Crisis: The Case for Rethinking Madisonian Government, Post-January 6 (Palgrave Macmillan 2025).

Along with four colleagues who form the Data Science working group (Sunghee Lee, Chemistry; Benjamin Gaines, Mathematics; Smiljana Petrovic, Computer Science; Nora Slonimsky, History) Jeanne was recently awarded a three year grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education for a project entitled "Data Science for Future Leaders". The goal of the project is to train faculty across various disciplines to develop and integrate engaging data science modules into their existing courses, helping prepare students for the demands of today's data-driven world. In conjunction with IU's Artificial Intelligence education initiative, the grant aims to enhance data literacy for all students. The project is supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF-IUSE Award No. 2417365.

In addition to her work in data science and her research on the foundations of American government, post-colonial nation-states, and democratization, Jeanne has also written extensively about issues ranging from the politics of colonial/pre-partition India-Pakistan and electoral litigation to the pedagogical benefits of metaphors, Rawlsian justice, and democratic backsliding. Her work has been published in academic journals as varied as South Asia Research, Campaigns and Elections, Journal of Politics, Journal of Political Science Education, Dispute Resolution Journal, Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies, Education Week, Journal of Pastoral Counseling, and The Chronicles of Higher Education, among others. Along with American Democracy in Crisis  and Sikander Hyat-Khan: Collected Papers, Jeanne is  co-author of one of the leading texts on computerized data analysis using SPSS and the GSS, currently in its 11th edition, Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using SPSS, co-editor of Socio-Political Risk Management: Assessing and Managing Global Insecurity  the IV volume in De Gruyter's ground-breaking series Developments in Managing and Exploiting Risk and Core Concepts in American Government.  

For more than two decades, Jeanne has brought the work she does in the academy to broader audiences via the popular media. To that end, she serves as a political contributor on Bloomberg TV and Radio where she appears on "Balance of Power" with Joe Mathieu & Kailey Leinz M-F 12:35-1:35, as well as 5:30-6 on M & F. She previously served as a contributor with Al Jazeera America (AJAM) and RNN (Regional News Network). In addition, she has appeared on a variety of national and international networks including: Al Jazeera, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox Business, Fox News, HLN Headline News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and NTV Russia, among others. Her views on current issues have been published widely in print outlets including the Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, Politico, RealClear Politics, USA Today, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, & Washington Examiner.  

As a member of the Political Science and International Studies faculty, Jeanne teaches courses in political and social risk, voting, elections, public opinion, political parties, presidency, congress, the courts, civil liberties, constitutional law, media and politics, social statistics, data analysis and research methods, amongst others. During her tenure at Iona she has served as Dean of the School of Arts & Science, Director of the Honors Program, and Chair of the Political Science Department. 

Jeanne was a University Scholar at the University of Connecticut in Storrs where she received a Bachelor's (BA) degree in Political Science and Media Studies, as well as a Master's (MPO/MA) degree in Survey/Public Opinion Research from the prestigious Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (now Cornell University). She later attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received a second Master's degree in Political Science, as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science with a concentration in Political Theory, Public Law, and American government.