Dean
Devin Stauffer

Devin Stauffer is a professor of government at The University of Texas at Austin whose scholarship and teaching explore classical and early modern political philosophy. His work examines enduring questions about justice, the relationship between philosophy and politics, and the foundations of modern political thought, with particular attention to Plato, Hobbes, and Machiavelli.

Stauffer’s academic leadership at UT Austin includes chairing the Faculty Task Force on Reforming the Core Curriculum in 2025–26 and serving as associate chair and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Government from 2019 to 2023. He also serves as co-director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas. His campus leadership was recognized in 2026 when he received UT Austin’s Civitatis Award for outstanding faculty citizenship.

Stauffer’s  books include Hobbes’s Kingdom of Light: A Study of the Foundations of Modern Political Philosophy, The Unity of Plato’s Gorgias: Rhetoric, Justice, and the Philosophic Life, and Plato’s Introduction to the Question of Justice. He also co-authored Empire and the Ends of Politics: Plato’s Menexenus and Pericles’ Funeral Oration with Susan Collins and co-edited Christopher Bruell: Essays of Five Decades on Philosophy and Philosophers with Eric Buzzetti. His articles have appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, and the Review of Politics.

Stauffer has taught a wide range of undergraduate courses and graduate seminars in the history of political thought. Since 2007, he has co-led weekly political theory reading groups for students and other members of the University community. His teaching has been recognized with several awards, including the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award and the Department of Government’s Outstanding Faculty Award for Distinguished Service to Graduate Students.  Stauffer earned his doctorate in political science from Boston College and his bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College, graduating magna cum laude with highest honors in political science. Before joining UT Austin in 2004, he taught at Kenyon College and St. John’s College in Annapolis. He has also held a visiting appointment at Harvard University and a research fellowship at the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation in Munich.