Professor | Faculty Director
Department of Political Science
Katherine (Kathy) Cramer is the Virginia Sapiro Professor of Political Science and Vilas Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined the UW-Madison faculty in 2000, and has been a proud member of that campus community, her undergraduate alma mater, ever since. She is known for her innovative approach to the study of public opinion, in which she uses methods such as inviting herself into the conversations of groups of people to listen to the way they understand their connections to politics and government, and to each other. She is the author or co-author of six books including the 2026 book with Larry Bartels, The Politics of Social Change: From the Sixties to the Present Through the Eyes of a Generation, and the 2016 book, The Politics of Resentment, which brought to light rural resentment toward cities and its implications for contemporary politics. She is also known as a scholar who actively puts her knowledge into action. She recently co-chaired the American Academy of Arts and Science Commission on Reimagining Our Economy (CORE), and has worked with the Center for Constructive Communication at MIT, and the affiliated nonprofit Cortico, since 2017 to create a platform and approach that aims to improve public understanding and policy making. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters.