In Memoriam: Lyn K. Ragsdale, 1954-2020

Lyn Ragsdale, the Radoslav A. Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs and professor of political science at Rice University in Houston, Texas, died at her home in Houston on December 13. She was 66 years old.

Dr. Ragsdale was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in Tempe, Arizona. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University in 1974. The first of her family to attend college, Dr. Ragsdale went on to obtain a master’s degree in 1978 and a Ph.D. in political science in 1982, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Ragsdale’s prolific career in political science education began in 1983 when she joined the faculty at the University of Arizona, later serving as director of its Survey Research Center from 1988 to 1991. Dr. Ragsdale then served as head of the political science department at the University of Illinois, Chicago from 2001 to 2006. In 2006, she was named dean of social sciences at Rice University in 2006. Dr. Ragsdale stepped down as dean in 2016 to return to teaching, researching, and writing. At the time of her death, she was working on her latest book, Shattered: Donald Trump and the American Presidency.