Jacob Montgomery

Prof. Jacob Montgomery is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis and is a leading researcher in the application of advanced computational methods to political science questions.

Prof. Montgomery graduated with a B.A. from Wake Forest University with majors in Political Science and Mathematical Economics. He earned an M.S. in Statistical Science as well as his Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University (2011).  

Research Focus

Dr. Montgomery’s work centers on integrating advanced computational methods with core social science tasks, including measurement, theory testing, survey research, and causal inference. He has specific interests Bayesian methods, machine learning, American politics, and online political communication.

His research particularly emphasizes American politics and the role of social media in political discourse at home and abroad.

His current projects include:

• Understanding the role of social media platforms in the political system including interventions to reduce belief in disinformation, platform regulation of political advertising, and populist rhetoric from political parties around the globe.
• Improving measurement of latent concepts like ideology using advanced computational methods such as topic models, supervised machine learning, multilingual large language models, and advanced Bayesian measurement models.
• Interdisciplinary projects on emerging topics including racial bias in AI models, idiographic personality measurement, and regulation of political speech online.

Academic Positions

Prof. Montgomery is a Professor of Political science and the chair of the political science track for the Division of Computational and Data Sciences. He has also served as Director of Data Science Training in the Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis and the founding director of the Political Data Science Lab and the Transdisciplinary Research Institute in Applied Data Science (TRIADS). He has worked extensively on interdisciplinary initiatives at the intersection of the social sciences and data sciences.

Notable Achievements

His work has appeared in the leading journals in political science, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Political Analysis. His work has also been published in general journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as well as peer reviewed outlets in computer science, communication, and statistics. His work has also received over $1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation. His published work has won multiple awards, and in 2020, he received the Emerging Scholar Award from the Society for Political Methodology, which honors a young researcher, within ten years of their degree, who is making notable contributions to the field.

Additional Information

Prof. Montgomery’s publications and working papers are listed on this website, and you can also access his curriculum vitae (linked above) and Google Scholar profile for additional information. Students interested in working Prof. Montgomery should apply directly to the Ph.D. program in Political Science, the Division of Computational Data Science, or both. Fee waivers are available for many applicants, so be sure to inquire.