Carol McNamara is the associate director for public programs for the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. Prior to that, she worked as the founding director with Olene Walker, a former governor of Utah, to build the Olene Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service at Weber State University in Utah. Her research focuses on politics and literature, ancient political thought, and the American presidency. Her publications include articles on the thought of Tom Wolfe, Shakespeare's politics, and Xenophon's Socrates, as well as an edited volume on "The Obama Presidency in the Constitutional Order."

Her expertise includes classical political thought, Shakespeare's politics, the Socratic education in Xenophon, Tom Wolfe, and the American presidency.