Personnel note: Lonna Rae Atkeson to lead LeRoy Collins Institute

Dr. Lonna Rae Atkeson.

Dr. Lonna Rae Atkeson is now the director of The LeRoy Collins Institute.

Atkeson is a renowned expert on election science and administration, survey research, public policy, voting rights, state politics, public opinion, and political behavior.

She comes to the Institute from the University of New Mexico, where she was a political science professor and regents lecturer. She succeeds Dr. Carol S. Weissert, who retired at the end of July after serving as the Institute’s director for 14 years.

The LeRoy Collins Institute, on the Florida State University campus, studies and promotes policy solutions to issues facing the people of Florida and the United States.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Atkeson as our new director,” said Lester Abberger, chair of the LeRoy Collins Institute. “As a scholar and expert on public policy and elections, Dr. Atkeson is uniquely positioned to lead the Institute into the future.”

Atkeson earned plaudits for her public policy work in New Mexico and served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and various private companies.

Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the JEHT Foundation, the Golisano Foundation, the Thornburg Foundation, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, the New Mexico Secretary of State, and Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

“Dr. Atkeson’s experience throughout her career and her knowledge of policy and research make her an ideal fit for the Institute,” Weissert said. “We are honored to have her join us and look forward to her tenure leading the organization through an interesting period in our nation’s political life.”

Atkeson received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Her first day as director was Aug. 9.