Bio
Kelly B. Shaw has been a teaching professor at Iowa State University since 2011, as well as serving as the department’s internship coordinator since 2022. He was named Associate Director for Cyclone Civics in 2024 and Co-Director of the Center for Cyclone Civics in 2025. He teaches courses in public policy and public administration, comparative politics, and American and state politics. Among his many service activities at Iowa State, Shaw has served as the faculty advisor to the Midwest Model European Union Simulation since 2021 and has served on the selection committee for the Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics multiple times. Shaw served as a Lecturer and the Director of the Des Moines Internship Program for the Department of Political Science at the University of Iowa from 2012 – 2020, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor of politics and international relations at Drake University. Prior to his academic roles he served as the Associate Director of the European Union Center at the University of Missouri where he coordinated policy-related outreach for the European Commission in the Midwestern United States. Shaw is a former two-term mayor of Indianola, Iowa, and worked briefly in Washington, D.C. for Iowa Congressman Jim Lightfoot. Shaw received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri in 2002 and holds an M.A. in political science from Iowa State University.