Political Science department chair credits Professor Laursen with an important role in the remarkable success of their Ph.D. students in securing tenure-track positions. As dissertation advisor and mentor, Professor Laursen is known for his commitment to his students and for his ongoing engagement with his students in collaborative research projects. Beyond this crucial involvement in the graduate program, Professor Laursen is clearly an equally dedicated undergraduate professor, one who is particularly successful in motivating students, even in large classes, to excel and preparing them for future success in graduate school or law school. The comments on Professor Laursen's course evaluations reiterate the same virtues over and over again: "approachable," "helpful," "knowledgeable," and "hard."