Timothy McCranor, Ph.D.

Timothy McCranor, Ph.D. became IWP’s Dean of Academics in 2026, after serving as the Assistant Dean of Academics since 2024, prior to which he served as IWP’s Academic Programs Manager for several years.

In his role as Assistant Dean, McCranor worked in close collaboration with his colleagues across multiple departments at IWP, including Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Advancement, and Recruitment. Together, they launched IWP’s Ph.D. program; appointed a Ph.D. Program Director; created new Master’s Degrees in War Studies, Counterintelligence, and Chinese and Asian Affairs; managed IWP’s growing DSNS program; recruited new faculty, such as Ambassador David Hale and Paul Kepp; and secured grants from the Scaife Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, and the Jack Miller Center. They also developed a new concentration in International Economics; directed two undergraduate programs, the American Statecraft Fellowship and Civic Thought and Statecraft Fellowship; restructured IWP’s certificate and concentration offerings; and oversaw the growth and expansion of the online programs.

For several years now, McCranor has also taught several IWP courses, both onsite and online: Western Moral and Political Thought, Ideas and Values in International Politics, The History of American Foreign Policy, and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

In his capacity as the Dean of Academics, McCranor will help to maintain and strengthen the Institute’s academic and curriculum integrity; develop and expand academic programs and faculty; support enrollment efforts and student success and satisfaction; and deepen IWP’s relationship with the growing revival in civic education throughout the country.

McCranor graduated from IWP with an M.A. in Statecraft and National Security Affairs in 2012, prior to which he spent nearly two years in Yemen studying Arabic. Upon graduating from IWP as the Salutatorian, he worked as a Strategic Communications Analyst/Arabic Linguist for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)/Leidos in Vienna, VA. McCranor also served as an Open-Source Analyst/Arabic Translator for C-LEVEL Maritime Risks, a private sector risk consultancy specializing in analyzing and forecasting the Somali piracy business model.

Inspired by his studies at IWP, especially the latter’s commitment to America’s founding principles and the Western moral tradition, McCranor chose to pursue a Ph.D. in political science at Boston College rather than a career in the Intelligence Community. At Boston College, his primary field of study was the history of political philosophy, especially the thought of Plato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Hannah Arendt.

During his doctoral studies, McCranor received multiple teaching grants to incorporate technology and simulations into the classroom and to write a short manual on social science methodology for undergraduate thesis writers. He was awarded a grant from the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation to study in Munich, Germany under Heinrich Meier, and was invited by the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History to participate in its Summer Institute on “Civic Education and the American Republic.” McCranor also helped manage the Islamic Civilization & Societies Program at Boston College, an interdisciplinary program for undergraduates interested in the Islamic world.

Education

• B.S., Sacred Heart University, 2005
• M.A., The Institute of World Politics, 2012
• Ph.D., Boston College, 2021

Publications

• Science Fiction and Political Philosophy: From Bacon to Black Mirror (co-edited with Steven Michels)
• “On the Pedagogical Intent of Clausewitz’s On War”

Honors and Awards

• Outstanding Service to IWP and our Students Award, The Institute of World Politics, 2024
• Partner Program Grant, Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, 2022-2026
• Constitution Day Lecture Grant, Jack Miller Center, 2022-2025
• Scholar, The Classics of Strategy and Diplomacy Project, 2021-2022
• Fellow, Summer Institute on Civic Education and the American Republic, Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, 2021
• Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Grant, Boston College, 2019-2020
• Dean of Summer Session Teaching Fellowship, Boston College, 2019
• Dissertation Grant, Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation, Munich, Germany, 2018-2019
• Institute for Qualitative & Multi-method Research (IQMR) Fellowship, Syracuse University, 2018
• Academic Technology Innovation Grant, Boston College (with Kathleen Bailey), 2017-2019
• Teaching, Advising, and Mentoring Grant, Boston College, 2017-2018
• Exploratory Technology Grant, Boston College (with Kathleen Bailey), 2016
• Behrakis Prize for Outstanding Essay in Hellenic Political Thought, Boston College, 2016
• Ernest Fortin Memorial Foundation and Bradley Summer Grant, 2015-2019
• W. Smith Foundation Fellowship, Boston College, 2014
• Harold and Maria Ransburg American Patriot Scholarship, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, 2009