Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2013 | Page 43

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Politics in Partnership:
What’s Their Secret?
by Monica M. Jones

Some couples have trouble doing simple DIY
projects together, but this alumni couple work in
the same department at the same university and
still enjoy catching up at the end of the day.

When Nathan Kelly ’99 served as a campaign manager for Jana Morgan ’98 during her
run for student body vice-president at Wheaton,
neither had any idea how long their alliance would
last.
The couple met as freshmen when Nate played
a prank on Jana and her dorm roommate. Both
political science majors, they had several classes
together, but their friendship truly blossomed
one summer when Jana studied abroad with the
Wheaton in Mexico program. With limited Internet
access, they wrote letters, and after Jana returned
to campus, they officially started dating.
While at Wheaton, Dr. Lyman “Bud” Kellstedt hon
mentored Nate and invited him to be his research
assistant. “I really loved the work of research and
discovery,” says Nate. Meanwhile after completing an internship at the U.S. Embassy in Quito,
Ecuador, Jana realized she was less interested in
the day-to-day bustle of the political arena and
more excited about working to shape the thinking
of policymakers.
As the pair tried to coordinate their application
efforts for graduate schools, Nate and Jana were
simultaneously planning a wedding in the summer of 1999. Fortunately when Nate applied and
was accepted at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, faculty there learned about Jana
and both were accepted with full funding.

Once finished with school, they never dreamed
they would be able to work together. But both
landed tenure-track positions in the department
of political science at the University of Tennessee
in 2005, where they’ve been ever since.
Perspectives from friends in academia help keep
them grateful. “Many academic couples we know
had to live apart and commute for many years
before getting jobs together. And often when they
get jobs, one partner has to really compromise
professionally,” says Nate. “We’ve never had to
do that.”
Both recently earned tenure and now serve as
associate professors at the university. Nate’s primary research interest is the macro political system of the United States, and he has earned both
the “Junior Faculty Excellence Award” from the
College of Arts and Sciences and “Professor of
the Year” in the department of political science.
Jana’s research on analyzing gender inequality
and public attitudes and behavior in emerging
democ Ʌ