{{short description|American political scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Holli A. Semetko
| image             =
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| birth_date        = 
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| fields            = {{ubl|[[Political science]]|[[Media studies]]}}
| workplaces        = {{ubl|[[Harvard University]]|[[Syracuse University]]|[[University of Amsterdam]]|[[Emory University]]}}
| education         = {{ubl|[[Albion College]]|[[London School of Economics]]|[[Emory University]]}}
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| awards            = {{ubl|Beer Prize, British Politics Group|Worcester Prize, [[World Association for Public Opinion Research|WAPOR]]|Kaid-Sanders Award, [[American Political Science Association|APSA]]}}
}}
'''Holli A. Semetko''' is an American [[political scientist]]. {{As of|2025}}, she serves as the [[Asa Griggs Candler]] professor of [[media studies|media]] and [[international affairs]] at [[Emory University]]. She previously served as Emory University's Vice Provost for International Affairs, Director of the Office of International Affairs, and the Director of the Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning from 2003 to 2013. In a 2019 study on the top 400 most-cited authors in political science, Semetko was named among the top 40 most cited women in political science.  Her research focuses on social media, campaigning and influence, [[political communication]], [[public opinion]], and [[political campaign]]s in [[comparative politics|comparative perspective]].

==Education and early career==
Semetko was born in [[Trenton, Michigan]].<ref name=kurthen>{{cite book |editor1=Hermann Kurthen |editor2=Werner Bergmann |editor3=Rainer Erb |date=29 May 1997 |title=Antisemitism and Xenophobia in Germany after Unification |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=xiv⁠–xv}}</ref> She graduated from [[Albion College]] with a BA in both political science and economics.<ref name=kurthen/> Semetko earned an MSc in political sociology from the [[London School of Economics and Political Science]], followed by a PhD.<ref name=kurthen/><ref name=kim19>{{cite journal |title=The Political Science 400: With Citation Counts by Cohort, Gender, and Subfield |doi=10.1017/S1049096518001786 |date=April 2019 |last1=Kim |first1=Hannah June |last2=Grofman |first2=Bernard |journal=PS: Political Science & Politics |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=296–311 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C1EDBF7220760F01A5C4A685DB3B3F44/S1049096518001786a.pdf/political_science_400_with_citation_counts_by_cohort_gender_and_subfield.pdf |access-date=19 January 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref> Semetko's dissertation won the 1989 [[Samuel Beer|Samuel H. Beer]] Dissertation Prize,<ref name=beer>{{cite web |url=https://britishpoliticsgroup.com/bpg-awards/beer-prize-winners/ |title=Beer Prize Winners |publisher=The British Politics Group |year=2014 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> which is awarded by the British Politics Group "to reward exceptional work" in the area of British politics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishpoliticsgroup.com/bpg-awards/ |title=Awards |date=16 August 2017 |publisher=The British Politics Group |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> In May 2013, she was awarded an executive MBA from the [[Goizueta Business School]] at [[Emory University]].<ref name=fulbright>{{cite web |url=http://www.usief.org.in/USF-2013-14/Fulbright-Nehru-Visiting-Lecturer-Program/HolliA.Semetko.html |title=2013-2014 fellows |publisher=Fulbright United States-India Educational Foundation |year=2013 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref>

In 1994, Semetko was a research fellow at the [[Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy]] at [[Harvard University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/fellowship_brochure.pdf |title=Comments from Former Fellows |publisher=Shorenstein Center, Harvard University |date=December 2011 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> She then joined the faculty at [[Syracuse University]], and in 1995 she moved to The [[University of Amsterdam]], to serve as Professor and Chair of Audience and Public Opinion Research, then Chair of the Department of Communication Science and founding board chair of the Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR). <ref name=profile>{{cite web |url=https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/holliasemetko/ |title=Holli A. Semetko |publisher=Emory University |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222185310/https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/holliasemetko/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Semetko moved to Emory University in 2003.<ref name=profile/>

==Career==
===Research===
In addition to publishing several dozen journal articles, Semetko has written or edited a number of books in [[comparative politics]] and [[political communication]]. In 1999, she coauthored the book ''On message: Communicating the campaign'' with [[Pippa Norris]], [[John Curtice]], David Sanders, and Margaret Scammell. The book uses the [[1997 United Kingdom general election]] as a case to study the role of campaigning and political media in election outcomes. The book used a variety of [[political methodology|methodologies]] to study that campaign, prompting [[Shanto Iyengar]] to write: "At last, a genuinely multi-method study of political campaigning".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Books/On%20Message.htm |title=Pippa Norris Books |publisher=John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University |year=1999 |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128152549/https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Books/On%20Message.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1991, Semetko coauthored the comparative study of the [[1984 United States presidential election]] and the [[1983 United Kingdom general election]], ''The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent American and British Elections''.<ref name=crigler>{{cite journal |first=Ann N. |last=Crigler |title=Review Media Messages in American Presidential Elections and The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent American and British Elections |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=86 |issue=4 |date=December 1992 |pages=1068⁠–1069 |doi=10.2307/1964387|jstor=1964387 }}</ref> [[Doris Graber]] reviewed this book as "a path-breaking, major work",<ref>{{cite journal |first=Doris A. |last=Graber |title= Holli A. Semetko, Jay G. Blumler, Michael Gurevitch, and David H. Weaver, with Steve Barkin and G. Cleveland Wilhoit. The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent American and British Elections |journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly |volume=57 |issue=1 |date=January 1993 |pages=117⁠–119|doi=10.1086/269359 }}</ref> with Ann N. Crigler writing in the ''[[American Political Science Review]]'' that it is "a well-researched and clearly written piece of scholarship that advances knowledge about the transactional relationships between the institutions of the press and politics".<ref name=crigler/> Among her other books, Semetko co-edited, with Margaret Scammell, ''The [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] Handbook of Political Communication''.<ref name=profile/>

Semetko received the 1992 [[Robert Worcester|Robert M. Worcester]] Prize which is given by the [[World Association for Public Opinion Research]] to the best article in the ''[[International Journal of Public Opinion Research]]'', for an article that she coauthored with Joanne Bay Brzinski, David Weaver, and Lars Willnat.<ref name=worcester>{{cite web |url=https://academic.oup.com/ijpor/pages/Worcester_Prize |title=Worcester Prize |publisher=World Association for Public Opinion Research |year=2018 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> Her article with [[Kees Aarts]], titled "The Divided Electorate: Effects of Media Use on Political Involvement" and published in ''[[The Journal of Politics]]'', received the 2003 [[Lynda Lee Kaid|Kaid]]-Sanders Award for Best Political Communication Article of the Year from the Political Communication section of the [[American Political Science Association]].<ref name=polcomm>{{cite web |url=http://politicalcommunication.org/ica-division/awards/ |title=Awards |publisher=American Political Science Association |year=2017 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref>

In 2019, a citation analysis by the political scientists Hannah June Kim and [[Bernard Grofman]] listed Semetko among the top 40 most cited women working as a political scientist at an American university.<ref name=kim19/>

===Academic positions===
From 2003 to 2013, Semetko was the Director of the Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning.<ref name=halle>{{cite web |url=http://news.emory.edu/stories/2012/05/er_halle_director_semetko_faculty/campus.html |title=Halle Institute director Semetko transitions back to faculty |publisher=Emory University |date=9 May 2012 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> At the end of her tenure as Director, then-Provost [[Earl Lewis]] wrote that the "Halle Institute's visibility, its programs and partnership, affiliated faculty and publications, have grown significantly under Dr. Semetko's creative leadership", citing the examples of her creation of an Emory-[[Nanjing]] Visiting Scholars Program and expanding various opportunities for Halle Institute scholars to conduct research abroad.<ref name=halle/> Semetko has also been the Vice-Provost for International Affairs at Emory University,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.globalatlanta.com/emory-names-new-vice-provost-for-international/ |title=Emory Names New Vice Provost for International |work=Global Atlanta |last=Williams |first=Trevor |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> and the Director of the Office of International Affairs there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.siis.org.cn/Content/Info/4TZ7GI67LY84 |title=SIIS President Yang Jiemian meets with the Director of the Office of International Affairs at Emory University |publisher=Shanghai Institutes for International Studies |date=10 September 2016 |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222205331/http://en.siis.org.cn/Content/Info/4TZ7GI67LY84 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2011, Semetko was elected as a life member to the [[Council on Foreign Relations]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shared.web.emory.edu/emory/news/releases/2011/08/semetko-elected-to-council-on-foreign-relations.html#.XlFqaihKiUl |title=Semetko Elected to Council on Foreign Relations |publisher=Emory University |date=15 August 2011 |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/membership/roster |title=Membership Roster |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=22 February 2020}}</ref> Semetko has also been a visiting scholar and a [[Fulbright Nehru Program|Fulbright scholar]] at IIT-Bombay [[Indian Institutes of Technology]].<ref name=profile/><ref name=fulbright/>

==Selected works==
*''On message: Communicating the campaign'', with Pippa Norris, John Curtice, David Sanders, and Margaret Scammell (1999)
*"Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news", ''[[Journal of Communication]]'', with [[Patti Valkenburg]] (2000)
*"The Divided Electorate: Effects of Media Use on Political Involvement", ''The Journal of Politics'', with Kees Aarts (2003)
*Co-editor, ''The Sage Handbook of Political Communication'' (2012)

==Selected awards==
*Samuel H. Beer Best Dissertation Prize (1989)<ref name=beer/>
*Robert M. Worcester prize, World Association for Public Opinion Research (1992)<ref name=worcester/>
*Kaid-Sanders Award, American Political Science Association (2003)<ref name=polcomm/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Semetko, Holli}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women political scientists]]
[[Category:American political scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Albion College alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Goizueta Business School alumni]]
[[Category:Emory University faculty]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Syracuse University faculty]]
[[Category:American mass media scholars]]
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:People from Trenton, Michigan]]
[[Category:American women academics]]