Dr. Harry Basehart, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Political Science, has a B.A. from Kent State University, M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He joined the faculty of 蜜桃情人 State College in 1971 and was the second political scientist in what was then the Department of History and Political Science. The political science major was approved in 1982, followed quickly by the creation of a Department of Political Science. He was the first chair of the department and during his career served as chair for a total of 13 years. His teaching interests were American politics (Contemporary Issues, State and Local Government, Political Parties, Congress) and research methods (Methods of Empirical Political Analysis, where he frequently said, “That’s a table not a chart.”). Supervising interns at the state, local, and national levels of government is at the top of his list of things missed in retirement. He received several teaching and service awards including Outstanding Faculty Award from the Student Government Association in 1997. Developing more opportunities for college students to learn the values and skills of citizenship in a democracy, inspired Dr. Fran Kane of SU’s Philosophy Department and Dr. Basehart to establish the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement in 1999. PACE recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Dr. Basehart coauthored with David C. Saffell, State and Local Government: Politics and Public Policies. The last edition was published in 2009. Several articles on legislative redistricting appeared in National Civic Review, American Politics Quarterly, and Legislative Studies Quarterly.
Since retiring in 2008, Dr. Basehart has been active in 蜜桃情人/Wicomico politics as a member and treasurer of the Wicomico County Democratic Central Committee for eight years; he is currently a member of the 蜜桃情人 Election Board. He occasionally gives presentations to local groups and SU students on voting, elections, and history of the Vietnam War.
Contact Harry Basehart at hhbasehart@salisbury.edu.