Contact Information

C.V.Military Resume

Biography

Dr. Lew Irwin teaches courses in American government, public policy, and the techniques of social scientific research methods. He is the author of four books on the U.S. Congress, public policy analysis, and American national security, in addition to a variety of journal articles and other publications. In addition to serving on the faculty at Duquesne, Dr. Irwin also served for more than 34 years in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2020 as a Major General, serving as the Commandant of the Joint Forces Staff College and on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. During his military service, Dr. Irwin completed a wide variety of assignments in the United States and around the world, including service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Bosnia, and other assignments at home and abroad.

Education

A 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and a Masters in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

 

 

School

Undergraduate Courses Taught at Duquesne

POSC 105: American National Government (Fall/00, Fall/01, Fall/02, Fall/03, Spring/10)
A survey course designed to provide students with a theoretical, philosophical, historical, and empirical foundation for understanding and critically assessing American political institutions, legislative and electoral processes, and the means of citizen participation.

POSC 105C: American National Government (CIVITAS Residential Learning Community) (Fall/06, Fall/08, Fall/09, Fall/10, Fall/11) The CIVITAS Residential Learning Community version of the course listed above, with a service-learning component embedded within it and carrying a Social Justice theme area designation.

POSC 203: The American Congress (Spring/04, Spring/09, Fall/11) A course that develops and applies a rational choice model of legislative and electoral processes while empirically examining the actors, structures, dynamics, and products of the United States Congress as well as the perspective of the legislators themselves.

POSC 220: The Politics of Public Finance (Spring/01, Spring/02, Spring/03) A course which analyzes the politics and mechanics of the budgeting and appropriating processes, processes that have dominated policymaking over the last several decades.

POSC 292W: Public Policy (Fall/00, Fall/01, Fall/02, Fall/03, Spring/07, Spring/09, Spring/11, Spring/12) A course that examines public policy in America, including the nature of the policymaking process, the techniques of policy analysis, and the current public policy debates that shape contemporary American politics.

POSC 330: Contemporary Affairs Seminar (Fall/11) A single credit course I developed to prepare undergraduate candidates for national scholarship and fellowship competitions and to acknowledge the significant effort that goes into these applications and the process of competing.

POSC 418/518: The Politics of Civic Problems (Spring/01, Spring/03, Spring/06) See above.

POSC 430W: Internship in Practical Politics (Fall/04, Fall/06, Fall/07, Fall/08, Fall/09, Fall/10, Fall/11) A course that provides the students an in-depth understanding of the practical challenges of the political process while challenging them to apply their skills of political analysis in studying some aspect of that practical political process. In Fall/04, Fall/07, and Fall/09, Dr. Charles Rubin directed the internships once I departed for military leaves of absence.

POSC 436W: Advanced Seminar- Legislative Politics (Spring/02, Spring/08, Fall/10, Spring/12) An upper-level undergraduate seminar focused on the nature of legislative politics in the United States. The course also helps the students to achieve a rigorous understanding of the application of the scientific method to social science questions.

CLPR 121: CIVITAS Service-Learning (Fall/06, Fall/08, Fall/10, Fall/11) The college program "umbrella" course that provides credit for the participation in the service-learning component of the CIVITAS Residential Learning Community.

CORE 141: Social, Political, and Economic Systems (Spring/01, Summer/01, Spring/02, Spring/03, Spring/04, Spring/06, Spring/07) An undergraduate course that introduces the student to the social sciences, with particular attention paid to the disciplines of sociology, political science, and economics.

Scholarly Publications

Book Disjointed Ways, Disunified Means: Learning from America's Struggle to Build an Afghan Nation. Carlisle: USAWC/Strategic Studies Institute, 2012.

Article "Filling Irregular Warfare's Interagency Gaps," Parameters, v. 39, no. 3, Autumn 2009.

Article "Irregular Warfare Lessons Learned Reforming the Afghan National Police," Joint Force Quarterly, v.54, January 2009.

Article "A ‘Permanent' Republican House? Patterns of Voter Performance and the Persistence of House Control," The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2004.

Book A Chill in the House: Actor Perspectives on Change and Continuity in the Pursuit of Legislative Success. New York: SUNY Press, 2002.

Article "Dancing the Foreign Aid Appropriations Dance," Public Budgeting & Finance, Summer 2000.


Other Publications

Article "Transformation: The Case of the Afghan National Police," Warrior-Citizen Magazine, Summer 2008.

Op-Ed "Walking Away from Afghanistan," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 18, 2008.

Op-Ed "The Challenge of Afghanistan," The Observer-Reporter, April 6, 2008.

Op-Ed "The Extreme Partisan Gerrymander: Will It Evolve, or Will It Die?" The
Observer-Reporter, November 30, 2003.

Op-Ed "Partisanship: Has Its Nature Really Changed?" The Tribune-Review, January
11, 2002.

Op-Ed "Rethinking Evil: Our New, Unconventional War." The Observer-Reporter,
September 30, 2001.

Op-Ed "Are We Yearning to Revisit ‘Structural Deficits'?" The Observer-Reporter,
March 18, 2001.

Op-Ed "Our Military at Risk from Serious Political Miscalculations." The Observer-
Reporter, October 22, 2000.


Scholarly Works in Progress and Project Status

Article "Optimizing the National Security Staff: Core Functions and Guiding Principles." Status: I am still editing, having received comments on the draft from a senior member of the National Security Council staff.

Book (Working title) Revitalizing the Republic. Status: I am resuming work on this project, a book focused on reforms in the U.S. Congress, having completed production of my third book in May 2012. I began this project prior to my deployment to Afghanistan in 2007 and so I am actually mid-project now.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publication Pertaining to Teaching

Book The Policy Analyst's Handbook: Rational Problem Solving in a Political World.
Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003.


Scholarly Publications

Book Disjointed Ways, Disunified Means: Learning from America's Struggle to Build an Afghan Nation. Carlisle: USAWC/Strategic Studies Institute, 2012.

Article "Filling Irregular Warfare's Interagency Gaps," Parameters, v. 39, no. 3, Autumn 2009.

Article "Irregular Warfare Lessons Learned Reforming the Afghan National Police," Joint Force Quarterly, v.54, January 2009.

Article "A ‘Permanent' Republican House? Patterns of Voter Performance and the Persistence of House Control," The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2004.

Book A Chill in the House: Actor Perspectives on Change and Continuity in the Pursuit of Legislative Success. New York: SUNY Press, 2002.

Article "Dancing the Foreign Aid Appropriations Dance," Public Budgeting & Finance, Summer 2000.


Other Publications

Article "Transformation: The Case of the Afghan National Police," Warrior-Citizen Magazine, Summer 2008.

Op-Ed "Walking Away from Afghanistan," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 18, 2008.

Op-Ed "The Challenge of Afghanistan," The Observer-Reporter, April 6, 2008.

Op-Ed "The Extreme Partisan Gerrymander: Will It Evolve, or Will It Die?" The
Observer-Reporter, November 30, 2003.

Op-Ed "Partisanship: Has Its Nature Really Changed?" The Tribune-Review, January
11, 2002.

Op-Ed "Rethinking Evil: Our New, Unconventional War." The Observer-Reporter,
September 30, 2001.

Op-Ed "Are We Yearning to Revisit ‘Structural Deficits'?" The Observer-Reporter,
March 18, 2001.

Op-Ed "Our Military at Risk from Serious Political Miscalculations." The Observer-
Reporter, October 22, 2000.


Scholarly Works in Progress and Project Status

Article "Optimizing the National Security Staff: Core Functions and Guiding Principles." Status: I am still editing, having received comments on the draft from a senior member of the National Security Council staff.

Book (Working title) Revitalizing the Republic. Status: I am resuming work on this project, a book focused on reforms in the U.S. Congress, having completed production of my third book in May 2012. I began this project prior to my deployment to Afghanistan in 2007 and so I am actually mid-project now.

Received the U.S. Army War College Foundation's Award for Excellence in Research in 2009 at the War College graduation ceremony, one of 10 such awards out of more than 400 graduating students... Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in 2009... Received the Bronze Star Medal for Army service in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008... Received Meritorious Service Medals for career and service achievements in the Army in 1993, 1998, 2000, 2006, and again in 2011... Received Rotary's "Service Above Self" award in 2008... Received the Peters Township "Character Counts" award in 2008... Received the Apple Polishing Award in 2006, nominated by the Alpha Phi Delta fraternity... Nominated for this same award in 2002, 2003, and 2004, as well...Designated a Paul Harris Fellow for community service in Rotary in 2003... Finalist for The Almanac's "Citizen of the Year" award in the South Hills in 2003... Received the Rotary District 7330 "Avenues of Service" Award for vocational service in 2002... Completed the Pittsburgh Marathon in 2000... Received the Army Commendation Medal for service on West Point's Middle States Accreditation self-study in 1999... Recipient of various Wimmer and Faculty Development grants...Received a grant from the U.S. Military Academy's Academic Research Division in 1997 for legislative research... Awarded a grant from the Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Research Center for congressional research in 1996... U.S. Army Itschner Award Finalist for U.S. Army, Europe, for exceptional organizational performance, in 1993...Designated a "Distinguished Leader" in the 1st Armored Division in Germany in 1992... Received the Bronze Star Medal for Army service in the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991... Interviewed by the The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2012 for article, "Poli-Sci Professor Leads Another Life as a Brigadier General".