Lia C. Howard is a political scientist who specializes in American politics. As Fellows Director for the SNF Paideia Program, Lia teaches SNF Paideia designated courses, designs curriculum and programming, and oversees advising and support for 75 undergraduate Fellows across three cohorts of students selected across all of four of Penn’s undergraduate schools.

She is the director of the Political Empathy Lab, and also leads with a team of Penn colleagues the Penn Commonwealth Engaged Scholars program, one of Penn’s inaugural Draw Down the Lightning Grants. 

Prior to joining the SNF Paideia Program, Lia Howard served as the executive director of the Philadelphia Commons Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the practice of civic dialogue. She has taught at St. Joseph’s University, Villanova University, Eastern University, as well as at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a non-resident senior affiliate at the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, and a senior fellow at the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program at Penn.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of political culture, American political development, education policy, and deliberative democratic theory and practice. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania where she also received her B.A. in English and French. She is blessed to journey through life with her husband, the Reverend Dr. Chaz Howard, Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity and Community at the University of Pennsylvania and Assisting Clergy at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and her three daughters.