An Storyteller: PhD Candidate in Political Science | MS Candidate in Data Science

Ali Amini is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the School of Public Affairs and an M.S. candidate in Data Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at American University in Washington, D.C. His primary fields are political behavior and methodology. As a social scientist with a background in mathematics, he applies cutting-edge AI and computational methods, from classical machine learning to frontier AI, to address questions in political science and related interdisciplinary research.

His dissertation, Three Essays on Political Behavior, advances new theories in political behavior and introduces frontier AI methodologies to empirically test them. Ali's dissertation committee is evenly represented by famous political behaviorist and methodologist. Professor David Barker (Chair) and Professor Jan Leighley, both current or former NSF program directors, represent the political behavior side, while Professors Jeff Gill and Ryan Moore bring methodological expertise. His work on applying computer science paradigms to survey research earned him the Burns “Bud” Roper Fellow Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in 2025.