Ryan LaRochelle

Ryan LaRochelle is a Senior Lecturer at the Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service at the University of Maine, where he teaches courses in Leadership Studies, Political Science, and Honors. He received his B.A. in Political Science and History from St. Michael’s College and his Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University.

Prof. LaRochelle’s research and teaching interests include American political development, U.S. social policy, social movements, and political history. He is currently working on two major research projects: an oral history and biography of Secretary William S. Cohen and a historical analysis of the political and policymaking legacies of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiatives. His scholarly research has been published in Studies in American Political Development, the Journal of Policy History, The Forum, and the Maine Policy Review. He has also written for major national publications including TIME Magazine, the Washington Post, and the Washington Monthly.

Why I teach in the Honors College: I love teaching in the Honors College because I interact with students from a range of scholarly backgrounds who are intellectually curious and eager to learn. My students always inspire me to think about the world in news ways, and I hope to empower them to expand their own intellectual and scholarly boundaries.