Director(s)
The Correlates of War project is headed by a director or co-directors charged with overseeing and coordinating the main activities of the project. Directors track the status of data sets, convene meetings, set data gathering priorities and directions, help to resolve coding disputes, pursue grants, and coordinate with other data collection and management efforts as appropriate. Directors serve at the pleasure of the Advisory Board and are initially appointed for renewable 5 year terms.
Directors
Jeff Carter (Appalachian State University) and Scott Wolford (University of Texas)
Directors Emeritus
| Zeev Maoz, 2013-2022 |
| Paul F. Diehl, 2005-2012 |
| D. Scott Bennett (interim), 2002-2004 |
| Stuart Bremer (deceased), 1998-2002 |
| J. David Singer (deceased), 1963-1998 |
Associate Director
The associate director is responsible for the maintenance of the data archive and the more technical aspects of the project. These include maintaining and managing the web site, posting data sets, and overseeing the format of data sets and associated documentation. The COW data archive is currently managed at the Pennsylvania State University. The Associate Director serves at the pleasure of the Advisory Board for an indefinite period.
Associate Director
D. Scott Bennett, Pennsylvania State University (since 2005)
Advisory Board
The Correlates of War project is overseen by an advisory board, which meets twice a year at the annual meetings of the International Studies Association and Peace Science Society (International) respectively. The board is composed of 9 voting members. Three of these members are elected from the data hosts group; the other six members are elected from nominations made by past and present members of the advisory board. The Director of the project consults with the Advisory Board on important matters and as the Director deems necessary. Final decisions about matters such as the appointment of the director and associate director, data set hosts and procedures, the adoption of new coding rules or restructuring of typologies and datasets, and the addition of new data as officially-designated COW data sets rest with the Advisory Board.
Members & Term
| Michael Kenwick, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, through January 2027 |
| Paul Poast, University of Chicago, through January 2027 |
| Amy Yuen, Middlebury College, through January 2027 |
| Andrew Enterline, University of North Texas, through January 2028 |
| Bradley Smith, Vanderbilt University, through January 2028 |
| Megan Stewart, University of Michigan, through January 2028 |
| Adrian Florea, University of Glasgow, through January 2029 |
| Danielle Jung, Emory University, through January 2029 |
| Mark Souva, Florida State University, through January 2029 |
Data Hosts
A major practical issue in collecting and releasing updated cross-national and cross-time data sets such as those collected by the COW Project has been the amount of resources needed to simultaneously maintain a large number of data sets. As a result, COW has implemented a distributed system of data set hosting based on the notion of “coordinated decentralization.” The goal is for each COW data set to obtain a semi-permanent “home” and “host,” that is, an institution and an individual who will agree to maintain a data set and the related documentation for a period of time. The care given to a data set by its host follows a set of guidelines designed to ensure continued consistency with COW standards. The Director and the COW Advisory Board are responsible for monitoring data sets and hosts.
Data Hosts
| Alliances (Formal) – Doug Gibler, University of Alabama |
| Arms Technology – Jacob Gerner Hariri, University of Copenhagen; Asger Mose Wingender, University of Copenhagen |
| Contiguity (Direct & Colonial) – Paul Hensel, University of North Texas |
| Defense Cooperation Agreements – Brandon Kinne, UC-Davis |
| Diplomatic – Resat Bayer, Koç University |
| IGOs – Tim Nordstrom, University of Mississippi; Jon Pevehouse, University of Wisconsin |
| MID – Faten Ghosn, University of Essex, Alex Braithwaite, University of Arizona, Paul Bezerra, United States Air Force Academy, and Vito D’Orazio, West Virginia University |
| MID Location – Alex Braithwaite, University of Arizona, and Paul Bezerra, United States Air Force Academy |
| National Material Capabilities – John J. Chin, Carnegie Mellon University |
| System Membership – Jeff Carter, Appalachian State University; Scott Wolford, University of Texas |
| Territorial Change – Steven Miller, Stockholm University |
| Trade – Katherine Barbieri, University of South Carolina |
| War – Paul Poast, University of Chicago |
| World Religion – Errol Henderson; Zeev Maoz, UC-Davis |
Data Hosts Emeritus
| Jeffrey Dixon, Texas A&M-Central Texas |
| Andrew Enterline, University of North Texas |
| J. Michael Greig, University of Utah |
| Volker Krause, Eastern Michigan University |
| Meredith Sarkees, Global Women’s Leadership in International Security (GWLIS) |
| Frank Wayman, University of Michigan-Dearborn |