Scott Sigmund Gartner is a scholar of conflict mediation and empirical studies of war. His research focuses on the intersection of foreign and domestic politics, U.S. national security, wartime assessment, and third-party mediation. Professor Gartner teaches classes in international mediation, U.S. national security, and research design. Prior to joining Penn State, he directed the International Relations Program at the University of California Davis. He is also the senior advisor for Net Assessment of Violent Non-state Actors supporting a U.S. federal government agency.

Gartner's over fifty academic publications include books such as Strategic Assessment in War and The Historical Statistics of the United States, and articles in top journals in political science, sociology, international affairs, History, intelligence, and communications. His honors include the Jefferson award for the best government resource, the RUSA Outstanding Reference Award, Booklist Editor's Choice Award, Library Journal Best Reference Award, History News Network Book of the Month and the American Political Science Association's best policy thesis award. His op-ed columns have been published in The Huffington Post, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, and Newsday. He and his research have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, and The Atlantic and on The History Network, MSNBC, NPR, and ABC. He is currently working on studies of 1) suicide in the military, 2) strategic assessment in insurgency, 3) international dispute mediation, 4) military casualties and politics and 5) chemical weapons.