Fred Rhynhart

Dr. Fred Rhynhart grew up on his family's dairy farm in Watertown, Connecticut, where one of his responsibilities was running the milking machines for a herd of about 40 cows.

He received his bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State College and went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1971-73) and Ripon College (1975-76) before coming to NKU in 1976.

During his first teaching stint at NKU from 1976-2000, Dr. Rhynhart taught a range of courses, including American Politics, State and Local Government, Political Parties and Pressure Groups, Campaign Management, Modern Political Theory, Liability for Criminal Justice Professionals and Administrative Ethics. He also served the department as coordinator of justice studies and was the first director of the Master of Public Administration program.

Dr. Rhynhart took an active role in electoral politics while teaching at NKU. He worked in Republican campaigns during the 1980s and 1990s in races for county judge, state legislative seats, governor, congressional seats and president. He was campaign advisor to Campbell County Judge-Executive Lloyd Rogers and later became Deputy Judge Executive. He was also involved in Newport's nonpartisan politics, serving as neighborhood representative, city commissioner and school board member.

Dr. Rhynhart participated in university governance for a number of years as a senator. He also served as faculty advisor to the Young Republicans and was president of the Kentucky Political Science Association. In 1993, he won the John Hughes Award for best faculty paper. His research interests during that period covered a number of areas, including judicial discretion in bail setting, computers and democracy in the 21st century, ethics of the city manager position and Kentucky elections.

After graduating from Chase College of Law in 1986, Dr. Rhynhart was sworn in as a member of the Kentucky bar in 1995. Most of his work as an attorney has been part-time as an appellate attorney, but he has also appeared occasionally in Northern Kentucky courts in matters of family law, juvenile law, probate and DUIs.

In the spring of 2000, Dr. Rhynhart resigned from NKU and worked with at-risk children in the Covington and Newport school systems. He built relationships with many young people and developed a great respect for the teachers and administrators in inner-city schools.

Dr. Rhynhart returned to NKU in the spring of 2004 as a part-time teacher and was granted a lecturer position in 2006. He has taught courses in Criminal Law, Legal Research, Judicial Process, Introduction to Law, Gangs, Local Government Management, Administrative Ethics, Administrative Law, American Politics and State and Local Government.