Meet the Pundit: Andy Taylor

Andy Taylor is the press corps' favorite professor.

As chairman of the political science department at N.C. State University in Raleigh, Taylor is often turned to for an academic take on the day's events.

There are several reasons: Taylor is pithy, neutral and accessible. For television reporters in need of a talking head, he's a short drive away. And his British accent is a nice change-up for radio reporters in need of an expert.

Taylor attributes his readiness to talk to the press to his job.

"It's an important part of our job responsibilities at N.C. State as a public institution," he said. "One of our charges is that we're here not just to serve our students but also the greater community. I take very personally the responsibility to inform the public."

He's also a reliably neutral source, more likely to talk about the history or context of a news story than to take a stand on an issue. He says his students regularly complain in their course evaluations that they don't know where he stands.

For years, Taylor had an excuse: As a British citizen, he couldn't vote.

"I could honestly say I didn't have a dog in the fight," he said.

More after the jump.

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As a high-school student in Reading, England, Taylor was fascinated by the United States and by politics.

He married the two when he studied American politics as an undergraduate at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He came to America to earn a master's degree at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and a doctorate at the University of Connecticut in 1995.

After graduation, he took a job at N.C. State, not far from a park with a statute of the fictional sheriff he shares a name with.

"I always joke that they only hired me for my name," he said.

In 2005, Taylor became an American citizen. He remembers telling the immigration officer who administered his politics-heavy citizenship test that if he flunked they should send him back to England.

Taylor still avoids discussing his own politics, although State Board of Elections records show that he is a registered Republican.

"It's my job to provide historical context," he said. "I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a psychologist."