Melody Rose teaches courses in American government and politics at the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University.  She holds degrees from U.C. Santa Cruz (B.A. with honors and Phi Beta Kappa, 1988) and Cornell University (Masters in Public Affairs, 1991; M.A. in Government, 1995; Ph.D. in Government, 1997).  She has authored a number of articles and book chapters on social and election policy.  Most recently, she is the author of Safe, Legal, and Unavailable? (2006, CQ Press), a book evaluating American abortion policy.  Rose's second book, an encyclopedia of primary source documents on abortion history, is due out in early 2008.  She is currently writing a book on the presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton with her colleague, Regina Lawrence.

Dr. Rose is the Program Director of NEW Leadership^TM Oregon, an affiliate of the NEW Leadership^TM Development Network, which partners with Rutgers University to offer public service leadership training programs to college women in Oregon.  This program is dedicated to inspiring and educating the next generation of women leaders in our nation.

Rose's teaching, research, and community service interests reflect her broad interest in citizen engagement and political participation.  She is a regular political analyst on local, state, and national media on matters of elections, voting, and women's political action.  In 2007, she was chosen as one of Portland's "100 Most Powerful Women."

Rose lives in Portland with her husband and their four children.