Boston College Athletics
Faculty Appreciation: Kathy Bailey
December 07, 2020 | Boston College Athletics, #ForBoston Files
The political science expert is always an Eagle at heart.
Kathy Bailey's curriculum vitae reads like a Broadway playbill for an elite education. She's an enthusiastic researcher and an accomplished author, a cited lecturer and a successful editor. She's an educator and a director of some of Boston College's brightest programs, and her work takes students into the depths of societal revolutions in both West and Central Asia.
The proudest piece of her resume isn't necessarily on that list. It's in her soul and doesn't require much introduction to the Boston College community because she's always been an Eagle at heart. She bleeds maroon and gold in the classroom, but she's equally fortunate to call herself a former student-athlete whose swimming background for the Eagles helps her carry a torch for her charges both in the classroom and on the field.
"I was a student-athlete at BC," she said. "I was a swimmer at the old Plex, and our practices competed with different programming that used the pool. We would practice at 6 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. so I know those scheduling issues that these kids have. I know the time management issues they (run into). Knowing that gives me insight into what (student-athlete) lives are like."
Bailey's professional career traversed the world of education after the swimmer graduated with a degree in political science in 1976. She left Chestnut Hill in order to obtain her master's, and her fluency in Russian helped open doors for multiple career tracks.
"I majored in political science and decided I wanted to obtain an advanced degree," she said. "After that, I had two tracks available. One was in education, but I had actually applied to the CIA. Since I speak Russian, they were looking for a specialist at the time. I actually received offers within 15 minutes (of one another), and it was like tossing a coin in the air (to decide)."
She ultimately decided to remain in education and began her road in 1980 when she accepted an instructor's position at Skidmore College. Four years later, she was back at BC in the same role before elevating to an Assistant Professor of the Practice in 1998. Two years later, she obtained her Ph.D. and became a Double Eagle before a promotion to Associate Professor of the Practice in 2004.
The current Professor of the Practice is one of the department's most respected assets and an icon within the school's educational footprint. She won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award in 2017 and is currently a mentor and advisor to several groups on campus. She's the Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam's "Central Asia and Afghanistan Regional Spotlight" and a former Program Chair of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies.Â
She is also the co-director of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, an elite-level scholarship offered as the only academic-based scholarship program. The involved students fosters integration across several industries and is aggregated with the larger academic experience.
"Those students are required to keep an elite GPA and are required to volunteer service," Bailey said. "There are international trips, and they are also required to perform language immersion and a professional internship. The scholarships are given to the top one percent of all applicants to Boston College. It's a full scholarship for four years, including all the summer programming and everything else we can throw in there. It's a wonderful program."
Her coursework, meanwhile, focuses on the ever-fluid societies in the Islamic world of Central Asia and the Middle East. She expanded to more than a dozen courses steeped in the changing tides of modern society and encouraged students to analyze the world around them. She honed them into the reasons why the world continued to change, and the independent thought continues to foster in every one of her classes across the broad spectrum.
"I thoroughly enjoyed her course and the interactivity it provided, even despite the transition to an online platform (this year) through Zoom," track and field junior Caroline Barry said. "I found myself constantly engaged with her curriculum and really appreciated her ability to make the material just as exciting on our online platform. I would definitely recommend any of Professor Bailey's classes to future students, as it provided me with great teachings about writing skills and furthered my understanding of Middle Eastern politics."
"It's a lot of things," Bailey said with a laugh, "but it's never boring. A political science course is always (about) what's happening today. Students like that because it's what's in the news. It's what impacts their lives because they're reading and are intelligent. We talk about things as they evolve and unfold, and the one comment I love from students is that they understand what they read at a deeper level."
It grows from a place of love - love for her students, love for her work and love for Boston College. Bailey is the embodiment of "Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle," a person who can supplement the educational experience with the social memories of her own years as a student-athlete. She arrived in Chestnut Hill as a student more than 40 years ago, but she never really left and returned. Once back at BC, it became her life, and the university is unquestionably better for it.
"My three sons graduated from BC and were raised here," she said. "My husband passed away in 1997 but also taught political science. We are a BC family. I'm very proud of my students. I love to see them thrive. I try to attend different games when I know my students are playing (for BC), and you can't keep me away from my football games. (Student-athletes) come to talk about academics, and after we talk, I like turning the conversation to their teams. I love hearing about it, and they love talking about it.
"I couldn't imagine a better situation," she added, "because I really do love BC, and I really do love these students."
Â
Â
The proudest piece of her resume isn't necessarily on that list. It's in her soul and doesn't require much introduction to the Boston College community because she's always been an Eagle at heart. She bleeds maroon and gold in the classroom, but she's equally fortunate to call herself a former student-athlete whose swimming background for the Eagles helps her carry a torch for her charges both in the classroom and on the field.
"I was a student-athlete at BC," she said. "I was a swimmer at the old Plex, and our practices competed with different programming that used the pool. We would practice at 6 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. so I know those scheduling issues that these kids have. I know the time management issues they (run into). Knowing that gives me insight into what (student-athlete) lives are like."
Bailey's professional career traversed the world of education after the swimmer graduated with a degree in political science in 1976. She left Chestnut Hill in order to obtain her master's, and her fluency in Russian helped open doors for multiple career tracks.
"I majored in political science and decided I wanted to obtain an advanced degree," she said. "After that, I had two tracks available. One was in education, but I had actually applied to the CIA. Since I speak Russian, they were looking for a specialist at the time. I actually received offers within 15 minutes (of one another), and it was like tossing a coin in the air (to decide)."
She ultimately decided to remain in education and began her road in 1980 when she accepted an instructor's position at Skidmore College. Four years later, she was back at BC in the same role before elevating to an Assistant Professor of the Practice in 1998. Two years later, she obtained her Ph.D. and became a Double Eagle before a promotion to Associate Professor of the Practice in 2004.
The current Professor of the Practice is one of the department's most respected assets and an icon within the school's educational footprint. She won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award in 2017 and is currently a mentor and advisor to several groups on campus. She's the Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam's "Central Asia and Afghanistan Regional Spotlight" and a former Program Chair of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies.Â
She is also the co-director of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, an elite-level scholarship offered as the only academic-based scholarship program. The involved students fosters integration across several industries and is aggregated with the larger academic experience.
"Those students are required to keep an elite GPA and are required to volunteer service," Bailey said. "There are international trips, and they are also required to perform language immersion and a professional internship. The scholarships are given to the top one percent of all applicants to Boston College. It's a full scholarship for four years, including all the summer programming and everything else we can throw in there. It's a wonderful program."
Her coursework, meanwhile, focuses on the ever-fluid societies in the Islamic world of Central Asia and the Middle East. She expanded to more than a dozen courses steeped in the changing tides of modern society and encouraged students to analyze the world around them. She honed them into the reasons why the world continued to change, and the independent thought continues to foster in every one of her classes across the broad spectrum.
"I thoroughly enjoyed her course and the interactivity it provided, even despite the transition to an online platform (this year) through Zoom," track and field junior Caroline Barry said. "I found myself constantly engaged with her curriculum and really appreciated her ability to make the material just as exciting on our online platform. I would definitely recommend any of Professor Bailey's classes to future students, as it provided me with great teachings about writing skills and furthered my understanding of Middle Eastern politics."
"It's a lot of things," Bailey said with a laugh, "but it's never boring. A political science course is always (about) what's happening today. Students like that because it's what's in the news. It's what impacts their lives because they're reading and are intelligent. We talk about things as they evolve and unfold, and the one comment I love from students is that they understand what they read at a deeper level."
It grows from a place of love - love for her students, love for her work and love for Boston College. Bailey is the embodiment of "Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle," a person who can supplement the educational experience with the social memories of her own years as a student-athlete. She arrived in Chestnut Hill as a student more than 40 years ago, but she never really left and returned. Once back at BC, it became her life, and the university is unquestionably better for it.
"My three sons graduated from BC and were raised here," she said. "My husband passed away in 1997 but also taught political science. We are a BC family. I'm very proud of my students. I love to see them thrive. I try to attend different games when I know my students are playing (for BC), and you can't keep me away from my football games. (Student-athletes) come to talk about academics, and after we talk, I like turning the conversation to their teams. I love hearing about it, and they love talking about it.
"I couldn't imagine a better situation," she added, "because I really do love BC, and I really do love these students."
Â
Â
#20 Baseball Defeats Clemson (May 1, 2026)
Saturday, May 02
No. 20 Baseball defeats UMass Lowell (April 28, 2026)
Wednesday, April 29
From the Desk of Blake James | Episode 8
Friday, April 24
Baseball: 2026 ALS Game vs Virginia Tech Recap
Tuesday, April 21
