Michael Gibilisco

Michael Gibilisco is a Professor of Political Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), affiliated with the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). He holds academic appointments in the Department of Political Science and is a member of the Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences and the Center for Theoretical and Experimental Social Sciences (CTESS). His educational background includes a B.A. from Creighton University (2010), an M.A. from the University of Rochester (2014), and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester (2017). Prior to his current rank, he served as Assistant Professor at Caltech from 2017 to 2024.

His research focuses on formal political theory, political economy of conflict, and political methodology. Key themes include the application of dynamic game theory to study intergroup conflict, legislative policy-making, institutional selection, and minority rights. He also investigates equilibrium existence in dynamic games, computational tools, and structural estimation techniques. His work has been featured in studies such as 'Democracies More Prone to Start Wars – Except When They're Not' (2018) and contributions to understanding the political divide in contemporary politics.

Gibilisco teaches courses like 'Analyzing Political Conflict and Violence' and 'Foundations of Political Economy'. His recent publications (2021–2025) address topics ranging from autocratic power-sharing dynamics to strategic foreign aid and conflict data biases. His research bridges theoretical rigor with empirical applications, often using formal models to explain real-world political phenomena.

While no specific student advisees are listed, his teaching roles and research output suggest involvement in mentoring graduate students. His affiliations with CTESS and the Linde Institute reflect interdisciplinary engagement with experimental and theoretical social science approaches.