In his sophomore year, Justin Grimmer ’05 met with Professor of Political Science Emeritus David Hadley in his office and declared his intention to be a serious student of political science. From that point on he did that and much more.

“He’s the best student I ever had,” said Hadley, who taught at the College for 43 years.

Now the Morris M. Doyle Centennial Professor in Public Policy in Stanford University’s Department of Political Science and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Grimmer will return to Wabash next week as the latest Presidential Distinguished Speaker with his talk, “Democracy Thrives: Why the Left and Right are Wrong that American Elections are Broken.”

“I loved being at Wabash, and it was such a transformative experience for me,” said Grimmer. “I’ve been able to come back to campus a couple times since I’ve graduated, but never quite in this capacity. I’m very excited to be back and to present my work.”

Grimmer’s journey from Crawfordsville to the Bay Area was built through hard work. He initially came to Wabash with the idea of becoming a lawyer, but after taking his first political science course with Hadley, summer opportunities to do research in econometrics and being encouraged to pursue his math interests by the department’s chair, he decided academia might be his calling. After graduating summa cum laude with a double major in mathematics and political science from Wabash, Grimmer had his pick of graduate schools. Hadley recalled that, at a Midwest Political Science Association conference that he attended with Grimmer while he was in his senior year, the top schools in the country were lobbying for time with the star student. Able to pick from the bunch, Grimmer chose Harvard University, where he earned a masters and doctorate in political science. He’s been at Stanford ever since.

“It [Grimmer’s academic journey] just couldn’t happen in almost any other school,” said Grimmer. “First off, to have professors who are this generous with their time and this thoughtful; I’m ping-ponging around — I’m like a 19 year old kid, but what the hell do I know? It’s kind of unbelievable, that sort of experience.”

Grimmer is now at the peak of his chosen profession. Holder of an endowed chair at one of the world’s best universities, a senior fellow at a nationally-acclaimed think-tank, a patented inventor and accomplished teacher, he’s one of America’s foremost experts on elections and democracy. Though his journey has taken him far, it started at Wabash.

“Compared to a lot of students that I had, the research methods and statistical analysis seemed second nature to him,” said Hadley. “By the time he was a senior, he was beyond me in statistics. analysis and methodology. He was interested in what other students thought and understood, and he was interested in helping himself, his fellow students and me as a faculty member understand more, better and differently.”

For Grimmer, the intellectual side of Wabash certainly shaped him, but he was also molded outside of the classroom by lessons from, for example, his fraternity. Lessons about what it takes to be successful and focused that he’s still implementing today.

“Wabash I think really taught me how to be focused and hardworking, and what it means to be a professional,” said Grimmer. “That component of the Wabash experience that happened outside of the classroom, is, I think, unlike anything else that’s happening anywhere else in America.”

Grimmer will have his work cut out for him in his talk. When all the noise about democracy and elections, from both sides of the political spectrum, is that the system is broken, Grimmer will posit the opposite: there’s never been a better time to be an American voter. While acknowledging that this view is certainly contrarian, Grimmer believes it’s a more optimistic — and more importantly, a more accurate — account of what’s happening. There’s no one better positioned to make that case.

Grimmer will deliver his address at 8:00 p.m in Salter Hall on October 6.