UNL ORCA Interview Series
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Date of this Version
6-18-2026
Document Type
Article
Citation
Transcript, June 15, 2026
Abstract
Dr. John Hibbing was awarded the ORCA in 1993. John was born in 1953 in Paullina, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's in secondary education from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but then realized that teaching high school wasn't for him. Instead, he attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a master's and doctorate in political science. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of political science and rose quickly through the ranks. Initially, he studied the reasons that members of the U.S. Congress retire. This led to a longer-term collaboration with Kevin Smith and John Alford to study the genetic and psychological correlates of political ideology. This hot-button topic brought him a great deal of prominence in our increasingly polarized times.
Included in
American Politics Commons, Genetics and Genomics Commons, Higher Education Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons
Comments
Copyright 2026, Mark Griep. Used by permission.