John Mark Hansen is the Charles L. Hutchinson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science and the College. He is also one of the nation's leading scholars of American politics.

Hansen, whose research has focused on interest groups, citizen activism and public opinion, is the author of two books, Mobilization, Participation and Democracy in America (1993) with Steven Rosenstone and Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981 (1991).

In 1999, he received the Heinz Eulau Award from the American Political Science Association for the Best Article Published in the American Political Science Review in 1998. He also received the Outstanding Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists for Mobilization, Participation and Democracy in America in 1995. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Hansen's current research focuses on public opinion, public budgeting and politicians' inferences from the outcomes of elections.

In addition to his distinguished scholarship, Hansen is an experienced administrator. He has served as Dean of the Division, as Chairman of the Political Science Department, and as Associate Provost for Education and Research.

He joined the University faculty in 1986 as Assistant Professor in Political Science and was named an Associate Professor in 1992 and a Professor in Political Science in 1994. He served as Chairman of Political Science from 1995 to 1998, when he was named Associate Provost for Education and Research. Hansen received a BA in 1981 from the University of Kansas, an MPhil in 1983, and the PhD in 1987 from Yale University.