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Noted Maryland poll founder Mileah Kromer will be center’s inaugural director 

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) President Valerie Sheares Ashby announced today the founding of the UMBC Institute of Politics (IoP)—an academic, political research, and public outreach center that will harness the university’s robust research capacity and civic-focused public mission to provide a regional base for local, state, and national political analysis. 

The IoP will open with the start of the fall 2024 semester on August 28, and will begin public opinion polling and other public-facing initiatives on issues related to the 2024 general election and the upcoming 2025 Maryland state legislative session. The IoP’s most important purpose will be to provide UMBC students with unique opportunities for experiential learning and to build career-ready skills. 

Mileah K. Kromer, will serve as the IoP’s inaugural director. She will join UMBC’s Department of Political Science as an associate professor and teach courses on American politics, Maryland state politics, and survey research methodology. Kromer previously served as director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College and founder of the influential Goucher College Poll.

“There has never been a more crucial time in our democracy for credible, high-quality research and information on our political systems and electoral processes,” said Sheares Ashby. “As a public R1 institution located in the greater Washington, D.C., region, UMBC is ideally situated to enrich political understanding, elevate the level of public discourse, and better prepare our students to be active, engaged citizens of our state, our nation, and our world. We are delighted to welcome Mileah Kromer to the UMBC family and excited to add the Institute of Politics to our campus community.”

The IoP will be housed in UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and will build on the civic engagement, public affairs, and social science research work already being done by the university’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, and Center for Social Science Scholarship. Ian Anson, associate professor of political science, will serve as associate director.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to build an Institute of Politics at UMBC. As a first-generation college graduate, I know firsthand that public institutions like UMBC—with their focus on inclusive excellence—have the power to change the lives of students from all backgrounds,” said Kromer. “I’m excited to build an institute that supports learning opportunities for the next generation of policymakers and builds on the already excellent work done by faculty in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.”

About the Inaugural Director 

Since 2012, Kromer has led the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, where she founded and directed the Goucher College Poll. She brings with her nearly two decades of public opinion polling and teaching experience from Louisiana State University, Elon University, and Goucher College. 

Kromer is a recognized expert on Maryland politics and public opinion polling. Her opinion writing has appeared in POLITICO Magazine, CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, The Baltimore Banner, Maryland Matters, and The Baltimore Sun. She is a frequent guest on state and local public affairs programs like WYPR’s Midday with Tom Hall, WBAL-TV’s 11 TV Hill, and MPT’s State Circle, among others.

Kromer is the author of Blue State Republican: How Larry Hogan Won Where Republicans Lose and Lessons for a Future GOP (Temple University Press, 2022). Her work has also appeared in Gender & Politics, Survey Practice, Social Science Quarterly, and the Social Science Journal.  Her forthcoming article in State and Local Government Review examines how academic-based survey centers can play a role in real-time state and local political discourse.

Kromer earned her B.A. in economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2003 and a Ph.D. in political science from Louisiana State University in 2008.  

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University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a top-ranked national university with an inclusive culture that connects innovative teaching and learning, research across disciplines, and civic engagement.

For more information contact Cherie Parker, Director of Media Relations, at cheriepa@umbc.edu or 240-930-1169.