11 Facts About Karen Dawisha

Karen Dawisha was an American political scientist and writer.

Karen Dawisha was a professor in the Department of Political Science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and the director of The Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies.

Dawisha was born in Colorado on December 2,1949 as Karen Hurst to schoolteacher Paula Keene and Harry Hurst, who was a jazz pianist.

Karen Dawisha had three siblings, two brothers and a sister.

Karen Dawisha received a bachelor's degree in Russian politics from University of Colorado Boulder, taking a year at Lancaster University in England where she met her husband, Adeed Dawisha.

In 2014, Karen Dawisha received considerable attention for her work detailing the rise and crimes of Vladimir Putin.

Karen Dawisha sought to publish Putin's Kleptocracy with Cambridge University Press, with which she had previously published five books and which initially accepted the book; however, her 500-page manuscript, a quarter of which was evidentiary footnotes, was rejected by CUP.

Karen Dawisha clarified that her indignation was not directed at CUP but at the climate in Britain that allows "pre-emptive bookburning".

Karen Dawisha received Fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, the British Council, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Karen Dawisha was awarded the Distinguished Research Professor prize by the University of Maryland.

Karen Dawisha was married to Adeed Dawisha, a professor from Iraq who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, at Miami University.