John Mueller is a political science scholar who also studies dance history and film. As of 2021, he is Woody Hayes Senior Research Scientist Emeritus and Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies Emeritus at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies as well as Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Mueller is also the director of the Dance Film Archive at Ohio State, which he first started while working at the University of Rochester in New York. The Dance Film Archive is a non-profit organization that rents and sells dance films, videocassettes, and DVDs.

In 1965, Mueller earned a PhD in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was faculty at the University of Rochester from 1965-2000. In 2000, Mueller began his position at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and became faculty at Ohio State University. Mueller has published many books and articles on political science and has also written about dance history and film, including a book about Fred Astaire titled Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films that was published in 1985.