News from SUNY Cortland

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Robert Spitzer to Chair Political Science Department at SUNY Cortland

CORTLAND, NY (08/25/2008; 1608)(readMedia)-- SUNY Cortland has appointed Robert Spitzer of Cortland, N.Y., as chair of the Political Science Department in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Spitzer, a Distinguished Service Professor and professor of political science who has served the College for 29 years, began his three-year appointment on Aug. 1. He previously chaired the department from 1983-1989.

The Political Science Department offers programs to prepare students for active citizenship, careers and advanced training in law, political science and other fields. Through service learning, internship programs and a co-curriculum with public policy, international studies and African American studies, the department offers students experience in politics, government and the law. The department offers degrees in political science, adolescence education: social studies and political science, political science with a concentration in law and justice and political science with a concentration in public policy and administration. Also offered are minors in political science with emphasis in public administration and public policy or comparative politics and international relations.

Spitzer, who joined the College's Political Science Department in 1979 as an assistant professor, was promoted to professor in 1989. In addition to teaching, he is the author of many articles, papers and books, including his most recent, Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Training and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, published in 2008. Spitzer, who has appeared on many national television news programs, is a regular panelist on the weekly public affairs program, "The Ivory Tower Half Hour," broadcast on WCNY-TV in Syracuse, N.Y.

A native of New Hartford, N.Y., Spitzer graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Fredonia with a bachelor's degree in political science. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Cornell University.

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