Jody Neathery-Castro, Ph.D. currently serves as Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she oversees the International Programs office. She is a faculty member in the Political Science Department, with courtesy appointments in International Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Human Rights. She previously served as Interim Director of the UNO School of Music and Chair of the UNO Political Science Department. She is a member of the inaugural class of National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) Fellows and a faculty member and mentor for US STRATCOM's Strategic Leadership Fellows Program.
Her regional expertise is in European politics, and she teaches and researches in the areas of international relations, comparative politics, security, and gender. Her recent research has examined the new strategic domain of cognitive warfare, the intersection of gender and deterrence, and the feasibility of using AI to improve intelligence decision making and analysis. She has conducted pedagogical research in the areas of service learning, study abroad, and civic education. She serves as Principal Investigator on the US State Department-funded Young Southeast Asian Leaders (YSEALI) grant to fund the YSEALI Institute for Civic Engagement bringing a cohort of 25 young ASEAN state leaders to our campus each semester for civic engagement and learning about the US.
She earned her BA degree in Political Science and Journalism at Texas Christian University (1990) and Master of Arts and Ph.D. (1998) in Political Science at Rice University.