The realm of academia is often quiet, but this past week, it made some noise in Cincinnati, thanks to Associate Professor David Niven, PhD, from the University of Cincinnati. Niven has the distinction of being the first from his institution to be named a Carnegie Fellow, an accolade that brings prestige and a hefty research grant. The 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has added him to its ranks, one among 26 who were chosen from a competitive field of over 300 applicants, per UC News.
Niven’s research, which seeks to unearth the influence of polling experiences on voter perceptions, has been positioned on a track parallel to public discourse—one that often circles the drain on issues of political polarization. With funding to the tune of $200,000 from the Carnegie Foundation, he plans to use extensive survey work to peek into the voting habits and convictions in the local landscape and nationwide. "The other half of it is really looking at, how does that voting experience affect our opinions of voting?" Niven told Cincinnati’s NPR station, WVXU, in an interview.
The fellowship, which spans two years, provides Niven with both the time and financial resources to conduct this probing research. The focus of the Carnegie Foundation on political polarization is a theme of undeniable significance in the contemporary menu of national concerns—the throughline that questions the very integrity of our voting practices, the faith in our democratic processes.
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