Name: John T.R. Holder
Title: Adjunct Faculty in Political Science
Education: Ph.D., Public Policy, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2013
M.Phil., Political Science, The George Washington University, 1993
M.A., Political Science, The George Washington University, 1990
B.A., Political Science, Haverford College, 1985
Office: 340 Bancroft Hall
Phone: 803/323-4665
E-mail: holderj@winthrop.edu
Web: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/holderj
Area(s): American Government, State and Local Government, The National Executive, The Congress,
The Judiciary, Public Opinion and Political Socialization, Political Parties and Practical
Politics, South Carolina Politics, The Human Experience: Who Am I? (in University
College).
John Holder is a native and resident of Rock Hill. He represents the fourth generation
of his family to be associated with Winthrop, and the second to be a faculty member
in the Department of Political Science. He began teaching at Winthrop in 1995, with
interruptions to continue his graduate education and complete his doctorate. His dissertation
analyzed election reform in North Carolina. He previously served as the faculty advisor
for the Winthrop chapters of Circle K and Habitat for Humanity, and is currently the
advisor for the College Democrats. He is Vice President of the North Carolina Political
Science Association and former President of the South Carolina Political Science Association.
He is co-chair of the American Political Science Association Committee on the Status
of Contingent Faculty. He received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Adjunct
Faculty Award for 2016-2017. His current research focuses on the electoral effects
of gerrymandering.
Prior to returning to his home town and embarking on his teaching career, he lived
in Washington, DC, for ten years, where he worked for three members of South Carolina's
Congressional delegation and for a presidential campaign. He is a member of the Executive
Committee of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and was one of South Carolina's
delegates to the 2000 Democratic National Convention. He is also a former board member
of the Kiwanis Club of Rock Hill and of Habitat for Humanity of York County, and was
Clerk of the Vestry and Chair of the Mission and Outreach Committee at the Episcopal
Church of Our Saviour in Rock Hill. As a hobby growing out of his interest in teaching
State and Local Government, he has visited every state Capitol building in the country.
He paid for his doctoral studies at UNC Charlotte by winning $59,350 on the Dec. 20,
2004, episode of "Wheel of Fortune."