Randolph-Macon community members gathered in the McGraw-Page Library on Friday, February 18 to celebrate Professor of Political Science and Dean of Academic Affairs Lauren C. Bell’s installation as the first James L. Miller Professor of Political Science.

President Robert R. Lindgren welcomed attendees, including faculty, staff, students, members of the Board of Trustees, and friends and family of Bell. He emphasized the importance of endowed professorships and the contributions they make to myriad aspects of the college experience.”

“Our students, our faculty, and the College are all beneficiaries of these important professorships. And the rich, intellectual climate engendered by these professorships helps awaken in our students a joy and passion for learning—now and throughout their lives,” President Lindgren said. “What better lifelong gift could anyone possibly give?”

Alisa Rosenthal, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, conferred the professorship to Bell, summarizing Bell’s extensive publication record. She observed that “as outstanding a scholar as [Bell] is, she may be an even better teacher,” citing how Bell “takes students seriously and engages them deeply.”

“There is no greater champion for students than Lauren Bell,” Rosenthal said.

Bell expressed gratitude for Rosenthal’s support and the presence of her family, colleagues, friends, and students in attendance.

“I’ve had the privilege to serve the College both as a faculty member and as an administrator over the last 22 years, and I could not have done either job without the support of colleagues and friends across campus, especially on the faculty, in academic and student affairs, and in athletics,” Bell said.

During her acceptance speech, Bell reminded the audience that James L. “Jim” Miller’s ’52 intent for his eponymous professorship was to “encourage nonpartisanship and reduce polarization.”

“I cannot think of a time in recent American history when it has been more necessary to turn down the partisan dial and resist the gravitational pull of the political poles than the moment in which we currently find ourselves,” Bell said.

While Bell noted that the causes of political division are complex, she suggested they are exacerbated, in part, when citizens no longer feel compelled to stay informed or hold elected officials accountable for sowing division to score political points. She spoke about the “transformative” power and necessity of liberal arts institutions like Randolph-Macon, where, “if we do our jobs right, students are developed into engaged citizens capable of making informed judgments.”

“Our students cannot help but leave Randolph-Macon with an appreciation for the interconnectedness of knowledge and the benefits that redound from being engaged members of their communities,” Bell said. “These important citizenship skills, cultivated not just in the political science department, but across our campus and in everything we do, are needed today more than at any other time in recent history.”

Lauren C. Bell, Ph.D.

Bell holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. from the College of Wooster. She is a former American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow (1997-1998) on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and a former United States Supreme Court Fellow (2006-2007) at the United States Sentencing Commission in Washington, D.C. Bell joined the faculty at Randolph-Macon in 1999 and served as Associate Dean of the College and then Dean of Academic Affairs from 2007-2022.

A three-time winner of the Thomas Branch Award for Excellence in Teaching, Bell is a celebrated teacher and valued mentor to her students, including 20 Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellows. In her administrative roles, she has been a transformational leader for Randolph-Macon in the area of student support, helping to create and oversee the nationally recognized new student orientation program and significantly impacting the College’s student retention. In 2017, she was named one of ten national Outstanding First-Year Advocates by the National Resource Center on the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

A formidable scholar and sought-after subject matter expert, Bell is the author of Filibustering in the U.S. Senate (Cambria Press, 2011), Warring Factions: Interest Groups, Money, and the New Politics of Senate Confirmation (The Ohio State University Press, 2002), and The U.S. Congress, A Simulation for Students (2005; 2022), as well as co-author of Slingshot: The Defeat of Eric Cantor (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2015) and Perspectives on Political Communication: A Case Approach (Allyn & Bacon, 2008). She has published articles in top peer-reviewed political science journals including The Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, and The Journal of Legislative Studies. She and her work have appeared in or been cited by national and international media including The New York Times, Newsweek.com, The Washington Post, Roll Call, The National Journal, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg Law, and Politifact.

About the James L. Miller Professorship in Political Science

The James L. Miller Professorship in Political Science was established in 2018 by the late James L. “Jim” Miller ’52 to recognize and promote exemplary teaching and scholarship. This inaugural professorship is awarded to an accomplished, senior member of the Political Science department.

Jim Miller received his law degree from the University of Virginia and served in the Judge Advocate Generals’ Corps, U.S. Army. In 1959, he began his career in private practice and went on to be a successful attorney and president of the law firm of Williams, Kelly & Greer in Norfolk, Virginia. Jim’s remarkable commitment to Randolph-Macon was demonstrated by the time, dedication, and contributions he made to his alma mater over nearly seven decades, including serving as president of the Society of Alumni, chairman of the Tidewater Regional Committee for the “Our Heritage, Our Future: Campaign for Randolph-Macon,” and service on the Board of Trustees and the Board of Associates. Moreover, he created the James L. Miller Endowed Scholarship Fund in 2009 to assist academically promising and financially needy students from Winchester, Frederick County, and Norfolk, Virginia.