The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia announced Wednesday that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) has accepted an appointment to serve as a Professor of Practice with the Center for Politics. The inaugural appointment is effective immediately and will run through the conclusion of the 2023 fall semester with an option to renew for one or more additional years.
“I am delighted to be joining the UVA Center for Politics as a Professor of Practice. Preserving our constitutional republic is the most important work of our time, and our nation’s young people will play a crucial role in this effort. I look forward to working with students and colleagues at the Center to advance the important work they and others at the University of Virginia are doing to improve the health of democracy here and around the world,” said Cheney. “There are many threats facing our system of government and I hope my work with the Center for Politics and the broader community at the University of Virginia will contribute to finding lasting solutions that not only preserve but strengthen our democracy.”
“The Board of Visitors, which endorsed a Statement on Free Expression and Free Inquiry in 2021, and the University of Virginia are committed to offering our students an array of diverse viewpoints, and Liz Cheney — a strong conservative who never hesitates to put honesty ahead of all other considerations — is a model of leadership not just for the students at the University of Virginia but for all people concerned for the wellbeing of this country,” said Whitt Clement, Rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.
UVA President Jim Ryan welcomed the appointment, stating, “Our students will have an incredible opportunity to learn from Liz Cheney, who has fiercely defended democracy as part of a distinguished career. I’m delighted that she has chosen the University of Virginia and the Center for Politics as a next step, and I very much look forward to working with her.”
Professor Larry J. Sabato, director of the UVA Center for Politics, noted, “With democracy under fire in this country and elsewhere around the world, Liz Cheney serves as a model of political courage and leadership. Liz will send a compelling message to students about integrity. She’s a true profile in courage, and she was willing to pay the price for her principles — and democracy itself.”
Over the course of her tenure as a Professor of Practice, Cheney will participate in university-wide lectures, serve as a guest lecturer in student seminars with Professor Sabato and other Center faculty, contribute to Center for Politics research, and participate in other University and community events to be announced at a future date.
Cheney served as the U.S. representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district from 2017 to 2023. She chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership, from 2019 to 2021, and served as the Vice Chair of the Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. She was also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, China Task Force, Natural Resources Committee, and the House Committee on Rules. Cheney served previously at the State Department as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and in positions for USAID and the Department of State working in Poland, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine. An attorney and specialist in national security and foreign policy, she is the co-author, along with her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, of Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America.
Cheney graduated from McLean High School in Northern Virginia. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School. In 2022, Cheney, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, received the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library’s prestigious Profile in Courage Award, with a commendation for her “consistent and courageous voice in defense of democracy.”
As Vice Chair of the Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, Cheney participated with the Center for Politics in a national forum on the first anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, which is available on the Center’s YouTube channel, UVACFP.