Eric Herzik

Eric Herzik is a professor and chair of the department of Political Science.  He received his BA from the University of California at Irvine and the PhD in political science from the University of North Carolina.  He is the author of more than 50 research articles and monographs and has co-edited 5 books, including two texts on Nevada politics.   His research specialties center on American state and local politics and policy making.  In addition to his scholarly publications, Professor Herzik regularly comments on Nevada politics in national, regional and state media.   He has held a number of administrative positions at the University of Nevada, Reno including service as Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Director of the University’s decennial reaccreditation with the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and Co-Director of the Center for Basque Studies.   He has been a member of the University Faculty Senate, and was awarded the Senator Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award for the College of Arts and Science in 1996.  He has taught at UNR since 1989.

Current Research:

Professor Herzik is currently working with colleague Christopher Simon on a study of the political beliefs and voting preferences of single parents.  He is also developing a study on “swing voters,” with particular attention to the consistency of issue positioning by this group.  In addition to this mainstream academic work, Professor Herzik often conducts contract research for various state, local and private entities.  He has recently completed projects on the feasibility of hydrogen fuels for the Regional Transportation Commission (with Christopher Simon and PhD student Selby Marks) and a study on racial profiling for the Reno Police Department (with Christopher Simon and PhD student Steven Bale.)

Additional Information