Roger Hartley, U of A Professor

Roger Hartley, professor at the University of Arizona, is Gabrielle Giffords’ Supporter of the Week. “She really has public service in mind,” Roger said. “She is the type of person that looks at both sides of an issue. She’s not an ideologue. She wants to change America not by being ideological, but by making good public policy.”

Roger was born and raised in Cross Lanes, WV, on the outskirts of West Virginia’s capital, Charleston. Roger became interested in the democratic process as a small child, at age 7, on Election Day of 1976. All polling places in the state of West Virginia were located in schools, and consequently all West Virginia schoolchildren received Election Days off. “I lived close to my elementary school, and I walked to school,” he said. “I had forgotten it was the day off. There was an election going on. There were tons of supporters of every candidate — 50 to 100 people. They recruited me to hold a sign for a guy running for school board. It was exciting. I didn’t know a lot about the political parties, but it was democracy in action.”

Hooked on the democratic process, he attended Indiana University. “I wanted to see the world, so I went to IU,” he joked. He majored in public affairs, and then went to graduate school at the University of Georgia, where he received a masters and Ph.D in Political Science. In Georgia, he also met the woman who would become his wife, Melissa.

After graduate school, he moved to New York City for a year and a half, and then taught at Roanoke College in Virginia for three years.

In 2001, he and Melissa moved to Southern Arizona, where he currently is a professor at the University of Arizona’s Eller School of Public Administration. He teaches classes that relate to law, the courts, the judicial system, as well as conflict resolution and statistics.

Roger first met Gabrielle Giffords when she was a State Senator. “She called me up and said she wanted to learn more about public policy, and was interested in joining our Ph.D. program,” Roger said. “We had coffee. I told her, ‘You’re smart and gifted. Why in the world would you want to be a professor? You should be Governor!’” After that, she agreed to serve on the Community Advisory Board of the Eller School of Public Administration.

Roger closely followed her career. “I was impressed with what she did on the Finance Committee. I saw her as an advocate for the University system,” he said. “She seemed so darned reasonable and smart. She understands Southern Arizona.”