Liz Cheney, former Wyoming Congresswoman and Donald Trump antagonist, is starting a new role as professor at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
Liz Cheney will start a professorship at UVA.
The former Representative (R-WY), was announced by the school on Wednesday as a “Professor of Practice,” with her position being tenured through the Fall semester of 2023. The school also announced the possibility of extending her tenure.
Cheney released a statement saying, “There are many threats facing our system of government and I hope my work with the Center for Politics and the broader community at the University of Virginia will contribute to finding lasting solutions that not only preserve but strengthen our democracy.”
The nonpartisan center’s director, Larry Sabato, hailed her as a “model of political courage and leadership,” while UVA President Jim Ryan praised her as having “fiercely defended democracy.”
Cheney represented Wyoming for three terms in Congress, before losing her Republican Primary last fall. She famously broke with her party on its handling of former president Donald J. Trump. She voted with
Democrats in 2021 to impeach the then-president for instigating that year’s Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Later, Cheney served as the top Republican on the House select committee investigating the attack. Those two decisions turned most of the voters in Wyoming against the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney in the country’s reddest state.
Trump-backed attorney Harriet Hageman won the primary against Cheney and later the general election for Wyoming’s only House seat.
Shortly after she was booted from her Congressional seat, Cheney vowed to
leave the Republican Party if Trump becomes the GOP’s nominee for president in 2024. She also said she would “think about” a White House run of her own.
In Wednesday’s statement, the former congresswoman said she can’t wait to start to work with young people at UVA on addressing the country’s problems.
“Preserving our constitutional republic is the most important work of our time, and our nation’s young people will play a crucial role in this effort,” Liz Cheney said. “I look forward to working with students and colleagues at the Center to advance the important work they and others at the University of Virginia are doing to improve the health of democracy here and around the world.”
In her role at UVA, the University said Cheney is expected to participate in university-wide lectures, lead guest lectures in student seminars, and contribute to the Center for Politics’ research.
