Matthias Staisch joined Rice as an Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science in Fall 2024. In Spring 2026, he will begin serving as the inaugural advisor for the new major in Global Affairs, which he designed in collaboration with more than a dozen academic units across campus.

At Rice, Prof. Staisch teaches undergraduate courses on global political economy and international organization, and he mentors graduate students in designing their own courses and developing their teaching practice.

Before he joined Rice, Prof. Staisch was Associate Director and Associate Senior Instructional Professor in the Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago. A dual German-US citizen, he earned a PhD in Political Science at the University of Chicago and a BA/MA in Political Science and Modern History at the Universität Tübingen.