About Lucas McMillan
Samuel Lucas McMillan is Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Lander University. Under his leadership since 2017, the College has increased enrollment, launched new academic programs, enhanced community connections, and engaged its alumni--all to benefit Lander students. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Government, Criminology, and Sociology, received Lander's Young Faculty Scholar Award in 2011, and held the Monica Martin Stranch endowed professorship from 2012-2014.
Dr. McMillan's teaching and research interests include American foreign policy, paradiplomacy or constituent diplomacy, international political economy, U.S. state politics, federalism, European integration, and British politics. His research has led to interviews with reporters from such media outlets as The Washington Post and the Associated Press. His book, The Involvement of State Governments in U.S. Foreign Relations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) is accompanied by book chapters and essays published by Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan and articles in the journals Foreign Policy Analysis, International Interactions, International Studies Perspectives, The Mid-South Political Science Review, and Journal of Political Science. Additionally, he has published reviews and essays in such publications as the Journal of Political Science Education, FacultyFocus.com and The Political Science Educator. From time to time, he writes op-eds in regional newspapers. Dr. McMillan is a board member of South Carolina Humanities. He was previously on a national selection committee for Fulbright scholars, and president of the South Carolina Political Science Association. At Lander, he led efforts to establish B.A. or B.S. programs in Criminology, Human Services, International Studies, and Paralegal Studies, an Emphasis in Public History, and several minors. He also worked with others to create the Honors College and coordinates Lander's participation in the Washington Semester Program of the University of South Carolina Honors College. As an enthusiastic supporter of study abroad, he has led Lander students to Europe. He has led Lander's American Democracy Project to promote civic education on campus and sponsored many events and programs over the years. His civic engagement efforts include "Achieving the Promise: Democracy and the Informed Citizen," a project funded by S.C. Humanities, the state-level organization that distributes funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. To promote efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion, he led Lander's Race and Identity Dialogue project. A native of South Carolina, Dr. McMillan is a graduate of Mullins High School. He earned a B.A. in government and economics from Wofford College and spent a semester studying international relations at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He returned to Great Britain as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Warwick in England. He completed his Ph.D. in political science at the University of South Carolina. Dr. McMillan lives in Greenwood with his family. They are members of The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection where he has been senior warden (chair of the governing board) and served as a delegate to the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. He is a former trustee of the Self Family Foundation. |