Dr. Peter Schramm is a professor of political science at Ashland University and director of special programs for the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs. He is also coordinator of the Freshman Seminar program at Ashland University. He is the former acting assistant deputy secretary for higher education in the U.S. Department of Education, under William Bennett. He also served as the U.S. Department of Education’s director for the Center for International Education. Prior to that, he had served as the president and chairman of the board of directors of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy.

He previously taught political science at California State University, Claremont McKenna College, Azusa Pacific University and Arkansas State University. He also served as western director of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

Born in Hungary in 1946, Schramm holds a doctorate in government from the Claremont Graduate School, a master of arts degree in international history from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a master of arts degree in government from the Claremont Graduate School and a bachelor of arts degree in history from California State University, Northridge.

Schramm has been recognized for his research and teaching abilities. He has received two summer research grants from the Earhart Foundation and a summer research grant from Ashland University. Named to "Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers" in 1994, he has received Ashland University’s Mentor Award three times.

He has edited and contributed chapters to seven books, and has published widely in both scholarly and popular journals, including the introduction of the newly reprinted Lord Charnwood’s biography of Abraham Lincoln. He is currently writing an essay on "The Identity and Character of Robert E. Lee" for a November conference.

Schramm and his wife, Vicki, have four children, Emily, Joe, Becky, and John. They reside in rural Ashland.