New professor brings US politics and data analysis expertise to ANU

An expert on American and Australian politics, polling and statistics has recently joined the School of Politics and International Relations from Stanford University.
 
Professor Simon Jackman, the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Social Science Data Analytics, moved to Canberra with his family.
 
He’s eager to share the American intersection of teaching politics, social science and analytics with the University’s political expertise and bodies such as ANUPoll and AusCen.
 
“There are some really fascinating things we can do,” Jackman says.
 
“One of the things I really value about being in Canberra is to talk about the importance of the social sciences to the policy community here – elected politicians, civil service, whomever.”
 
Jackman spent his first 20 years teaching students who’d go on to become professors.
 
“But increasingly I’m producing students who go on to run analysis teams at places like Facebook, Google, various branches of the government,” he explains.
 
“Ten years ago, this wasn’t happening. I really hope we can start to produce more of those students here. I know they’re here.”
 
There is rising demand from business, government and non-profit entities for people with skills honed in the social sciences.
 
“They’re looking for precisely that mix of skill set – deep substantive knowledge about politics, about society, about the game interest groups are playing, but also bringing technical capability – they can analyse data at scale, and quickly,” Jackman says.
 
“These students are sufficiently trained and conversant and they can keep up; their skill set won’t be outdated three years from now.”
 
Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young AO says Professor Jackman is one of the world's leading experts on US and Australian politics and the trends in elections and public opinion in both countries.
 
Since 2009, Jackman has been a Principal Investigator in the American National Election Studies. In 2013, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and wrote a polling and analysis column about the 2013 federal election for The Guardian.
 
“Simon Jackman has made a significant contribution to public debate surrounding elections and democracy,” Professor Young says.
 
“I particularly look forward to his contribution to the University and the wider public debate as both Australia and the United States head towards national elections in 2016."
 
Jackman says Ian Young has handed him an “amazing” opportunity to share his knowledge of merging political science, running experiments and crunching data.
 
“I think that’s exactly the brief – I think the silos [between disciplines] are collapsing,” he says.
 
“What will the ANU version of that look like? I think it’s already starting to happen. If I can grab a few students and help them down the runway, that would be extremely gratifying.”
 
He’s enchanted by teaching how to improve the increasingly connected worlds of politics, sociology and economics with data.
 
“Ambitious, smart, largely 20- and 30-somethings don’t need to be persuaded that this is what the world looks like,” Jackman says.
 
“What they need help with is: what are the skills I need? What does good analysis look like? What’s a promising direction?
 
“A little bit of guidance, frankly, is sometimes all you need to provide, with the right students and the right motivation. You’re literally just setting the table and letting the guests come – that’s my role.”