Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and the Chair of the Politics Department. She also has affiliations with UVA’s Miller Center and the Batten School. Jen’s research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics. She is the author or co-author of eight books, including News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement (with Danny Hayes) and It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). Her research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, has appeared in numerous academic journals, and is regularly cited in the popular press. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Political Science and the recipient of the 2023 Shorenstein Center’s Goldsmith Book Prize (for the academic book that examines the intersection among media, politics, and public policy). Jen graduated from Union College with a B.A. in political science, and Stanford University with an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science. A long time ago (2006), she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Although she lost the race, she remains an obsessive political junkie.