Dr. Donald Puchala is a student of International Relations Theory, particularly as it addresses problems of international cooperation, organization and integration. He is also a specialist on Western European international relations and the politics and economics of the Common Market. Prior to his appointment at the University of South Carolina, Puchala taught at Yale University, the State University of New York at Buffalo and at Columbia University, where he also served as Associate Dean of the Columbia School of International Affairs. He has been a consultant to the State Department, the Foreign Service Institute, the United States Department of Commerce, the United Nations and various academic institutions and foundations.

He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Academic Council on the United Nations System.

Puchala has executed numerous research projects in Western Europe and elsewhere under grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, the German Marshall Fund and the United States Department of Education. Among his publications are: Western European Perspectives on International Affairs, International Politics Today, Global Food Interdependence, Fiscal Harmonization in the European Communities, and The Challenge of Relevance: The United Nations in a Changing World Environment.