Steven Smith

Professor, Political Science
Master, Branford College (1996-2011)

Steven Smith received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has taught at Yale since 1984 and was Master of Branford College from 1996 to 2011. He is the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science.

His best known publications include Hegel’s Critique of Liberalism (1989), Spinoza, Liberalism, and Jewish Identity (1997), Reading Leo Strauss (2006), The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss (2009), and Modernity and its Discontents (2016). He has just finished a new book titled In Defense of Patriotism due to be out from Yale University Press in late 2020 or early 2021.

He has received several academic awards and prizes including the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize given by Phi Beta Kappa in 1997 but is most proud of receiving the Lex Hixon ‘63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences in 2009. He is a die-hard Yankees fan and hopes to be able to play for the team in the next life.