A GOVERNOR FOR ALL
LeRoy Collins (1909-1991)
Thomas LeRoy Collins was the 33rd governor of Florida and served from 1955 to 1961. Collins was the first governor from the South to promote ending segregation.
Who We Are
The LeRoy Collins Institute, named in honor of former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins, is a non- partisan, statewide policy organization which studies and promotes creative solutions to key private and public issues facing the people of Florida and the nation. See our By-Laws here: LCI By-Laws
Leadership
The Institute is governed by a distinguished Board of Directors that includes current and former state-elected officials, other policy makers, educators and private citizens from throughout Florida. The Institute is chaired by John Marks, III and the director is Lonna Atkeson.
Lonna Atkeson, Ph.D.,
Institute Director
Brooke Beazer,
Institute Deputy Director
John Marks III,
Board Chair
Fellows
Emma Barrett
Austin Cutler
Marli Dunietz
Yimeng Li
Miguel Arceo-Miranda
Braeden McNulty
Irfan Yilmaz
Yimeng Li
Yimeng Li is a postdoctoral fellow at the Leroy Collins Institute. His research focuses on American politics and quantitative methods. His research in election administration includes voting by mail, provisional ballots, voter confidence, and voting technology. He received his M.Sc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.
Miguel Arceo-Miranda
Miguel Arceo-Miranda is an undergraduate political science and public relations student. He is also a member of FSU’s Research-Intensive Bachelor’s Certificate Program in Political Science.
Braeden McNulty
Braeden McNulty is a third-year graduate student in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University. His primary research interests examine the origins and behavioral consequences of rural resentment politics. He received a BA from Centre College, an MA from the University of Chicago, and an MS from Florida State University.
Irfan Yilmaz
Irfan Yilmaz is an upperclassman studying computer science at Florida State University. He has had various professional experiences across business, software engineering, and machine learning. His interests include distributed systems, full-stack development, cloud, finance, and start ups.
Emma Barrett
Emma Barrett is an undergraduate student studying political science and international affairs. She is a Social Science Scholar and a member of FSU's Research Intensive Bachelor's Certificate Program in Political Science. Following graduation, Emma hopes to complete a Ph.D. in political science. Her research interests include political behavior and political communication.
Austin Cutler
Austin Cutler is a second year PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University. His research focuses on American political behavior and public opinion. His research interests include affective polarization, race and ethnic politics, candidate selection, and partisanship. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology from the State University of New York at Geneseo, a Master of Arts in political science from The University of Mississippi, and a Master of Science in political science from Florida State University.
Marli Dunietz
Marli Dunietz is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in political science. Her research investigates political influence and social norms using incentivized experiments, surveys, and quantitative methods. She received her MA (ABD) in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and her AB in mathematics from Princeton University.
The Caldwell House
The LeRoy Collins Institute is located in the Caldwell House, which is at Florida State’s Law School. The land upon which this house originated was developed as Blackwood Plantation, 800 acres which were purchased in 1828 by Charles Black (1808-1830). Black’s widow Janet Reid Black was the daughter of Florida Governor Robert Raymond Reid, and the family occupied the property until the 1840’s. Sources describe a house on the property to have been built in 1826 by Col. Robert Butler (1786-1860), Florida’s first Surveyor General and friend of Andrew Jackson.