Nolan McCarty began his appointment as the vice dean for academic assessment on Sept. 1, 2023. He also serves as the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and the Department of Politics. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Chicago and his doctorate in political economy from Carnegie Mellon University. Previously he served on the faculties at the University of Southern California and Columbia University. 

He has written on a variety of topics related to the politics and political economy of the United States. His scholarship ranges from the causes and consequences of political polarization, economic and politic inequality, regulation, and the political role of business. He has also engaged in the development of statistical methodologies and the application of game theoretic models to political questions.

He has authored or coauthored four books: “Political Game Theory” (2006, with Adam Meirowitz), “Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches” (2016, second edition with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal), “Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy” (2013, with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal) and “Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know” (2019). With Frances Lee, he coedited “Can America Govern Itself?” (2019).

Prior to his service in the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, he served as interim and vice dean at SPIA, the director of the Data-Driven Social Science initiative, and chair of the Department of Politics. He was also the founding editor of the Quarterly Journal of Political Science. In 2010, he was elected as fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.