SVEN STEINMO (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1987). Born in Minnesota in 1953, Sven Steinmo's first language was, naturally enough, Norwegian. He has been trying to figure out Americans ever since. He has since lived and worked in a number of countries around the world including: Britain, Sweden, France, Israel, Germany, Japan and Norway. It hasn't helped much.

Now a professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Steinmo teaches courses on political economy, comparative politics and American government (which he still doesn't really understand.) Over the past several years Steinmo has received numerous awards for both his teaching and his writing. Most recently he is the recipient of the German Marshall Fund Senior Research Fellowship, and the Abe Foundation Fellowship. Before coming to Colorado he was a lecturer to the Swedish Parliament. Over the past 20 years he has been a partner or sole proprietor in several small companies. He also worked as a carpenter as well as a roustabout in the North Sea Oil fields.

Professor Steinmo has written several books and articles on European and American political economy and culture. He is currently working on two books: "The Land of Milk and Honey: A Short History of America and the People it Created" and "The Evolution of the Modern State." Currently the director of the University of Colorado's, DeTocqueville Initiative, Professor Steinmo's academic interest continues to be in comparing (and hopefully) understanding American politics and political economy from a comparative perspective. Beginning January 2007 Professor Steinmo will be taking a five year position as Chair in Public Policy at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. He plans to return to Colorado in 2011.