Ph.D. in Political Science and Women’s Studies, Ohio State University.
Kelly Atkinson is an Assistant Professor of political science in the US Air Force Academy. She is a major in the US Air Force and a career intelligence officer. Kelly is an alumna of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Strategic PhD program, and she holds a PhD in Political Science and Women’s Studies from the Ohio State University. Her doctoral research focused on the effect of gender-based development policies on child recruitment into conflict, supported by archival research and interviews at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. Kelly has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles on the role of refugee women in peace-building efforts within conflict dynamics. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts in Strategic Intelligence from the American Military University. At the US Air Force Academy, she teaches courses at the intersection of diversity and security and is engaged in teaching and advancing gender issues across institutions.