Jolyon Pitt Girard Endowed Assistant Professorship in Political Science

Nicole Kliewer, PhD

Nicole Kliewer, PhD, is the Jolyon Pitt Girard Endowed Assistant Professorship in Political Science. Dr. Kliewer earned her BA in Political Science and BS in International Affairs from Florida State University, and her MA and PhD and in Politics from Princeton University.

Dr. Kliewer’s research focuses on the strategic use of military backgrounds in United States politics. Currently, she is examining the impact of military veterans serving as poll workers on trust in elections. Her book project, "The Values and Vices of a Veteran Voice," examines the strategic communication of military service records in American congressional campaigns during the post-Vietnam era. Dr. Kliewer is a co-author on several projects studying the effect of occupation, class and military service on voters' perceptions of candidate quality and partisanship, as well as work evaluating the role of military identity in congressional roll-call voting.

Prior to joining Villanova as assistant professor of Political Science in fall 2025, Dr. Kliewer completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and served as a 2022-2023 American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellow. 

Dr. Kliewer has received grants and fellowships such as the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting Travel Grant, With Honor Action Grant from the Center for Effective Lawmaking, and Alpheus Thomas Mason *23 Fellowship at Princeton University. She is a frequent presenter at the APSA Annual Meeting and has given lectures at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, the Lakes and Pines Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America Meeting, and the Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting.