Scott Straus is an American political scientist currently serving as a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Strauss received a BA in English from Dartmouth College and a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on genocide, violence, human rights and African politics. He was previously a freelance journalist based in Africa, and in 2000 was a visiting fellow at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. He is the 2018 winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas for Improving World Order for his book Making and Unmaking Nations: War, Leadership, and Genocide in Modern Africa.