On March 19, Dr. Lindsey Cormack was honored by the NY State Legislative Women’s Caucus in conjunction with Women’s History Month. She has been a member of the Stevens community for 10 years, and has authored several books discussing American politics and veterans. Currently, she is an associate professor of Political Science and the Director of the Diplomacy Lab.
Dr. Cormack grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas for her undergraduate degree, later attending New York University to receive her graduate and doctorate degrees. Before coming to Stevens, she worked for a chemical trade association in Washington D.C.
Cormack was nominated by assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, and Governor Kathy Hochul signed Cormack’s book. Hochul noted that civics is “the most important topic of 2025.” The Legislative Women’s Caucus was established in 1983 and it is a bipartisan and bicameral caucus made of women elected to the New York State Legislature. The women state legislators work to improve participation of women within government, provide a supportive network for women in the State Legislature, and support issues that both affect and benefit women and families in New York State. Each year, they honor women “who have made strong contributions to their communities and who inspire others through their model citizenship.”
Cormack mentions how delighted she was to be one of the 71 honorees. She said that having the New York state legislature recognize her was incredibly important as it demonstrated that the state acknowledges that not enough is being done to educate young people about the government.
Cormack has written two books: How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It) and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis, with the former being inspired by Stevens students. While Cormack knows that the students are bright and are great at test-taking, each year she is saddened by how little they know about the government. Her book discusses how the government functions and how the school system fails to teach children about the government and its landscape. She said that she wants Stevens students to have a positive comprehension and better understanding of the government.
Some of her projects include DCinbox, a digital archive dedicated to capturing all official Congress-to-constituent e-newsletters. Currently, she is assembling a research team for a project on how headphone use hurts communities. Cormack points out that as people become less willing to talk to each other, loneliness is rising and political divisions are deepening. With more people plugged into their own worlds through headphones, we’re tuning out our surroundings—and each other.
This year, several influential elections will be held, including for Hoboken’s mayor and City Council. Cormack recommends looking around and understanding what elections are occurring near Stevens and our own communities.
