Alumni Profiles - Our Graduates
We are very proud of the accomplishments of each of our graduates. Our alumni have gone on to become political scientists, historians, lawyers, small business owners, consultants, and even nurses and chiropractors. Below are a few accounts of their successes since they graduated from SIUE.If you would like to keep up updated on your professional and personal endeavors since you have graduated, please reach out to us at politicalscience@siue.edu. We would love to hear from you, and you may end up being featured on our website!
Alyx Mark
Alyx Mark is an incoming assistant professor of government at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she will teach courses on public law and American politics. She is also a visiting scholar at the American Bar Foundation. She received a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts in political science from The George Washington University in 2015 and her Bachelor of Arts in political science and environmental studies in 2008 from SIUE. Her research focuses on the American civil legal system, the ways in which individuals interact with legal institutions, and the relationship between the federal courts and Congress. Her current research, which examines the civic and political effects of interacting with legal services offices, has received the support of the National Science Foundation and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Her work appears in, or is forthcoming at, the Denver University Law Review, Hastings Law Review, Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, the Journal of Law and Courts, Political Research Quarterly, and Tulane Law Review.
“While at SIUE, the Department of Political Science gave me the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics in the discipline, but also allowed me to deepen my focus on American political institutions. I found that my experiences, both in and outside of the classroom at SIUE, prepared me for graduate school. In particular, taking Professor Moffett’s introductory and advanced methodology courses introduced me to statistical analysis in the field, and those classes were invaluable building blocks for my PhD. minor focus in quantitative methodology.”
Emily Alvarez
Emily Alvarez is a principal research analyst at the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in Chicago. The Center pairs the research rigor of NORC at the University of Chicago with the journalistic independence and global media reach of the Associated Press to produce high-quality data to inform public policy debates. At the Center, Emily leads efforts to analyze and prepare public opinion data for dissemination to policymakers, stakeholders and the broader public. She has worked on research on a variety of topics including environmental and energy policy, aging and retirement, health care, and government spending. Prior to joining NORC, Emily completed her undergraduate work in political science at SIUE and earned a Master's in political science from Northwestern University. Her deep interest in politics, public opinion and data science was sparked at SIUE. The department helped her develop the critical thinking and analytical skills she uses everyday in her polling work. When not at work, Emily enjoys eating brunch, listening to obscure podcasts and taking her daughter to the beach. You can follow Emily on Twitter at @EmilyRAlvarez.
