Roderick P. Hart holds the Shivers Chair in Communication and is Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin. Former dean of the Moody College of Communication and founding director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, Hart is the author or editor of fifteen books, most recently Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive (2018). Hart has been named a Fellow of the International Communication Association and a Distinguished Scholar by the National Communication Association. He received the Edelman Career Award from the American Political Science Association.