Multi-Million Dollar Gift Creates Two Professorships for UVA’s Center for Politics

Gifts and Matching Funds Totaling $4.5 Million to Fund New Bicentennial Professor of Politics and John S. McCain Professor of Practice

University of Virginia alumnus and Center for Politics Board member Drew McKnight and his wife, Amy, of Dallas, have given $3 million to create two professorships for the UVA Center for Politics—one as a tenured Bicentennial Professor of Politics and the other as the John McCain Professor of Practice. The gift, together with additional private donations of $500,000 for the Center for Politics professorships, will receive an additional $1 million in matching funds from the University’s Bicentennial Professors Fund, for a total of $4.5 million.

The two professorships are a product of discussions between the McKnights, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics and UVA Center for Politics Founder Larry J. Sabato, and UVA alumnus Peter Kiernan. Together, they sought to develop a framework for bringing fresh perspectives to researching and teaching politics, while also providing the sort of pragmatism that comes from campaign or media experience.

Ryan proposed two professorships working in tandem at the UVA Center for Politics, allowing two people to bring their own unique experiences and talents in the effort to tackle declining trust in democracy in the United States and around the world and increases in political polarization.

Larry Sabato, Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics and UVA Center for Politics Founder

“I am incredibly grateful to Drew and Amy, not only for their generous gift, but also for their thoughtful and creative approach to addressing persistent political challenges,” President Ryan said. “These two professorships, which will bring both scholarly and practical perspectives to this work, will strengthen the Center for Politics and help to encourage political and civic engagement among our students and the public.”

Founded in 1998 by Sabato, the Center for Politics works to promote civics education and civic participation and serves as a crossroads of political theory and practice.

Sabato expects the full-time professor will serve the center via an appointment in the College of Arts & Sciences in the research and teaching of political science, and the McCain Professor of Practice will be an experienced practitioner of politics or media who will also teach and assist with the in-the-moment analysis and outreach that have defined the national mission of the Center for Politics for nearly a quarter of a century.

“I am grateful to Drew and Amy for believing in our work at the Center for Politics of teaching and engaging students of all ages over these last 25 years,” Sabato said. “With this gift, the Center for Politics is positioned for another 25 years of success as well as the bringing together of people with diverse political backgrounds and perspectives who share a common goal of strengthening our democracy.”

With this gift, the Center for Politics is positioned for another 25 years of success as well as the bringing together of people with diverse political backgrounds and perspectives who share a common goal of strengthening our democracy.

Larry Sabato

Sabato expects professors with different professional backgrounds will offer new ways of thinking about politics and will further enhance the legacy of the Center for Politics, as it has with its practice of recruiting Center Scholars representing diverse political views and its history of offering classes and public programs featuring representatives from across the political spectrum.

“The long and respected record of the Center for Politics gives us confidence that the University of Virginia remains committed to encouraging freethinking leadership today and into the future,” noted Drew McKnight. “John McCain’s example of compromise and principled leadership during his time in the U.S. Senate, together with his family’s connection to the University and to Charlottesville inspired Amy and me to name this professorship of practice at the Center for Politics to honor his example.”

The 2008 presidential candidate and decorated war veteran earned the nickname “Maverick” for his willingness to buck the party line when the moment required it. “McCain’s legacy serves as a model for a better American political system,” McKnight continued.

On the announcement of the completed gift agreement the McCain family expressed their thanks and support.