Jesse John Mills is one of the most acclaimed graduate students in the USC College's Program in Politics and International Relations. Since entering the program in 2004, Jesse has steadfastly grown as a scholar, ensuring his success as a full-fledged member of the academy in the coming years. Inarguably, he has been able to focus his energy on his interests: elections, voting behavior, political communication and political theory. His A+ grade point average and his desire to engage in challenging scholarship are well noted. In July 2009, together with his dissertation committee chair, Professor Ann Crigler (chair of Political Science and co-author) and Political Science undergraduate alumna Jenna Hootstein, he presented the paper "Intergroup Emotions in the 2008 Presidential Election" at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology in Dublin, Ireland. To fund the expenses associated with this conference, Jesse was awarded USC College's competitive 2009 International Summer Conference Travel Award, courtesy of the Office of Graduate Programs. This coming September, he will also be a featured discussant at a panel (chaired by Professor Crigler) at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association in Toronto. The panel, "Framing Experiments in the 2008 Presidential Campaign," unites scholars who participated in the 2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP) and conducted experiments during the 2008 presidential election season.

Well underway to completion, his dissertation promises to be a significant contribution to the field: Polarization in the electorate and its reinforcement through emotionally persuasive campaign messaging. The promise of a solid scholarly contribution coupled with lauded performance in the classroom -- Jesse was the 2007 Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year in the Department of Political Science -- provide an indestructible foundation for Jesse's success in academia.