Center for Politics Staff

Associate Director, Center for Politics

Ken Stroupe is the Associate Director and Chief of Staff at the University of Virginia Center for Politics where he has served since the Center was founded by Professor Larry J. Sabato in 1998.

Prior to joining the Center for Politics, Ken worked on two U.S. presidential campaigns and has advised numerous gubernatorial and congressional campaigns. His career in politics began in 1991 on Capitol Hill as Press Secretary to then-Congressman George Allen. In 1993, Stroupe served as the chief spokesman and media coordinator for Allen’s successful gubernatorial campaign, and following the election was appointed by the governor as Communications Director where he was responsible for message development and supervised all public communications throughout the Governor’s administration including media affairs, speech writing, and public outreach. Ken later served as Vice President of Government Relations for a large East Coast firm where he managed a diverse portfolio of both public and private sector clients assisting them on policy issues and designing strategic communications and management plans.

Ken has also served on numerous state and local government task forces and study commissions including an appointment to the Virginia Commission on Civics Education by then-Governor Mark Warner and later reappointed for a second term by former Governor Tim Kaine. At the Center for Politics Ken has published national research on the state of civics education and civic participation in the United States through sponsored grants from the Center for Civic Learning and Engagement and the United States Congress. He has also researched and written about the long history of gerrymandering in Virginia, among other topics. He holds an M.A. in American government from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Politics from Bridgewater College.

In 2019 the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized Stroupe with an Emmy Award in the category of Best Topical Documentary for his production role in the Center for Politics’ two-hour national documentary “Charlottesville” which covered the tragedies of Aug. 11-12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia and the menacing dangers of racial and religious hatred. Previously, in 2015 Ken was nominated for an Emmy for Best Instructional Programming for a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) narrated by Professor Sabato about the assassination of President Kennedy. The 44-lesson video course totaling more than eight hours of content was the first MOOC to receive a nomination from the Academy and has since enrolled more than 250,000 students worldwide. Ken and his colleagues at the Center for Politics were nominated for an Emmy again in 2021 for the Center for Politics’ three-hour national docuseries “Dismantling Democracy” which warned of escalating threats to American democracy. It was the first Center for Politics production to be commercially streamed globally via Amazon Prime. 

As a member of the University faculty, Ken teaches classes on state and national government, speechwriting, civic engagement and U.S. campaigns and elections through the UVA College of Arts and Sciences and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.