O'Connor, Karen, 1952-

Karen Paula O'Connor (born February 15, 1952) is the Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science and a Distinguished Professor of Government at American University in Washington, D.C., where she is also the Founder and Director Emerita of the Women & Politics Institute. She served as chair of the Department of Government at American University from 1997-2000. She also served as the editor of Women & Politics for 7 years and has been a member of its editorial board since 1980 under its new name, the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. She has also served on the editorial boards of numerous political science journals. O'Connor earned her B.A. from State University College at Buffalo (1973) and her J.D., and Ph. D. degrees from SUNY-Buffalo where she was the Baldy Fellow in Law and Social Policy. She taught at Emory University from 1977 until moving to American University in 1995 where she served as chair of the Department of Government from 1997 - 2000.