The Department of Public Administration and Policy faculty includes leading scholars across a variety of areas within public administration, public policy, and organization development. This breadth of faculty expertise serves as the foundation for cutting-edge research on a broad range of issues and the education of students to think critically about public service.
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SPA: Public Administration
Ward, Room
Graduate programs: spagrad@american.edu
Tenure-line Faculty
Anna Amirkhanyan
,Associate Professor
Professor Amirkhanyan’s research and teaching focuses on public and nonprofit management, public sector reform, organizational performance, social policy, research methodology, and intellectual history of public administration. Amirkhanyan’s articles... [More]
Scott A. Bass
,Professor
Scott A. Bass is the Provost at AU and Professor of Public Administration and Policy. A Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, Dr. Bass received the Donald P. Kent Award for exhibiting the highest standards for professional leadership in ge... [More]
Robert Durant
,Interim Department Chair, Public Administration and Policy
Professor Durant’s teaching and research focus is executive branch politics, public management, policy implementation, environmental policy, and administrative reform. He is Associate Editor for Administrative Research for Public Administration Revie... [More]
Katherine Farquhar
,Associate Professor
Katherine Farquhar (Director of the MSOD program) has a PhD in Social Psychology from Boston University. A tenured faculty member in American University’s School of Public Affairs, she has taught here since 1989. Her research focuses on “nonroutine” ... [More]
Lewis Faulk
,Assistant Professor
Lewis Faulk’s research spans the topics of foundation grant-making, competition in the nonprofit sector, diversity and wages in the nonprofit workforce, and nonprofit management. He has a Ph.D. in Public Policy with a concentration in Nonprofit and P... [More]
Seth Gershenson
,Assistant Professor
Dr. Seth Gershenson holds a PhD from Michigan State University in Economics with a primary focus on education policy. While at Michigan State, he taught several courses and received an Outstanding Teaching award. Professor Gershenson has also been ho... [More]
Tamara Hafner
,Assistant Professor
Tamara Hafner’s primary field of research is global health policy with a focus on pharmaceutical innovation and management. Her research addresses three broad questions. First, what are the policy options for improving access to medicines in low- and... [More]
Bradley Hardy
,Assistant Professor
Bradley Hardy is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy. Prior to joining American, he served as a research fellow at the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, where he co-authored and provided technical assistance f... [More]
Alison Jacknowitz
,Associate Professor
Alison Jacknowitz (PhD, Policy Analysis) is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy. She regularly teaches Methods of Problem Solving I, Social Policy and Programs, and Public Program Evaluation. Jacknowitz has been the recipient o... [More]
Jocelyn Johnston
,Associate Professor
Professor Johnston’s current research focuses on government contracting, public management, and intergovernmental programs and policy. Her publications can be seen in such scholarly journals as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory... [More]
Laura Langbein
,Professor
Professor Langbein teaches quantitative methods, program evaluation, policy analysis, and public choice. Her research fields include: theories of bureaucratic discretion, productivity, principal-agent models, social capital, and cooperation in the wo... [More]
Howard McCurdy
,Professor
Dr. Howard McCurdy is professor of public affairs in the public administration and policy department at American University in Washington, D.C. Public management, organization theory, science policy, and financial management are the focus of Professo... [More]
Taryn Morrissey
,Assistant Professor
Dr. Morrissey is on leave in 2013. She is serving as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). Prior to joining the SPA faculty in fall 201... [More]
Daniel Mullins
,Associate Professor
Professor Mullin's research has focused on fiscal reform and decentralization, intergovernmental fiscal systems, the effects of tax and expenditure limitations on state and local fiscal structure, the implications of demographic changes for state and... [More]
Stephanie Newbold
,Assistant Professor
Stephanie Newbold specializes in the intellectual history of public administration and the intersection between the American Constitution and the administrative state. Her research broadly examines the importance of connecting the constitutional and ... [More]
David Pitts
,Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair
David Pitts is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration & Policy. His research examines diversity issues in public management and policy, with particular interests in race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in K-12 and postse... [More]
SPA - Public Admin and Policy
Barbara Romzek
,Dean, School of Public Affairs
Dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University, Dr. Barbara Romzek is recognized for her expertise in the area of public management and accountability with emphases on government reform, contracting, and network service delivery. Her res... [More]
David Rosenbloom
,Distinguished Professor
Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Rosenbloom specializes in constitutional-administrative law, administrative theory, history, reform, and personnel management. A major contributor to the field and a National Academy of Public Adminis... [More]
Jeremy Shiffman
,Associate Professor
Jeremy Shiffman is Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy at American University. A political scientist by training, he researches the politics of health policy and administration in poor countries. He has a particular interest in he... [More]
Edmund Stazyk
,Assistant Professor
Professor Stazyk's research focuses on the application of organization theory and behavior to public management, public administration theory, and human resource management. His primary interests are in the areas of organizational and individual perf... [More]
Emeriti Faculty
Harvey Lieber
,Associate Professor Emeritus
An interest in the environment—its conservation and management—is the foundation for Professor Lieber’s teaching and research. He specializes in environmental management, planning and policy as well as public law and regulation. He has published a bo... [More]
Term Faculty
Rene W. Aubourg
,Assistant Professor
Dr. Aubourg is a quantitative policy analyst with fifteen years of experience in macroeconomic policy management and fiscal issues, cost benefit analysis, and project management. He has substantial managerial experience in central banking having serv... [More]
Karen Baehler
,Scholar in Residence
Dr. Karen Baehler holds a Ph.D. in Policy Sciences from the University of Maryland (1999), where she also earned a Master of Public Policy (1991). Dr. Baehler brings ten years of experience teaching courses in policy analysis and the policy process a... [More]
Jennifer Biddle
,Professorial Lecturer
Dr. Jennifer Biddle is a post-doctoral fellow conducting research on collaborative environmental governance. Her dissertation, “Does Collaborative Governance Lead to Environmental Improvements? The Critical Elements Affecting Watershed Partnerships' ... [More]
Daniel Fiorino
,Executive in Residence
Daniel J. Fiorino is the Director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University. As a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, he teaches courses ... [More]
Nicholas Kahn
,Instructor
Nick Kahn is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at American University. His research interests include child welfare policy, labor economics, applied microeconomics, health, and social policy. Nick’s dissertation is an empirical investigation into the ex... [More]
Patrick Malone
,Executive-in-Residence
Professor Malone is an Executive-in-Residence in the Department of Public Administration and Policy where he teaches courses in public sector leadership, executive problem solving, organizational analysis, action learning, leadership ethics, and publ... [More]
Robert Marshak
,Senior Scholar in Residence
Dr. Marshak has taught organization dynamics and change leadership in SPA since 1977. His areas of expertise include: organizational change and development, organizational discourse, and organization theory and behavior. Dr. Marshak has served on the... [More]
John Marvel
,Professorial Lecturer
John Marvel’s research focuses broadly on public management, with particular interests in public sector employee turnover, work motivation, and manager-employee relationships. In addition to appearing in Public Administration Review, his work has als... [More]
Robert Tobias
,Distinguished Practitioner in Residence
Robert Tobias teaches courses in public management, leadership, facilitation and team development, conflict management and alternative dispute resolution, and managing labor management relations. In addition, he is the Director of the Institute for t... [More]
Meredith Walker
,Professorial Lecturer
Dr. Meredith Walker is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research focuses on race, public administration, and social policy. She completed her dissertation “Not a One-Way Street: Exploring the Role of I... [More]
Sonja Walti
,Assistant Professor
Dr. Walti is an international scholar in public policy. Her fields of specialization include comparative public policy and public administration, policy analysis, comparative federalism, and environmental policy. She has conducted research related to... [More]
Ruth Zaplin
,Executive-in-Residence
Ruth Zaplin is an Executive-in-Residence, School of Public Affairs, Department of Public Administration & Policy and also Director of International Programs, Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. Dr. Zaplin has developed and led e... [More]
Adjunct Faculty
Robert Abbey
,Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Robert F. Abbey, Jr., is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Troy University specializing in quantitative analysis, program evaluation, research methods, and policy analysis. Prior to 2002, Dr. Abbey served for 30 years in the fede... [More]
Jean Accius
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Jean Accius is an expert in aging, Medicaid and long-term care issues. He is a Senior Strategic Policy Advisor within the Office of Policy Integration at AARP. In this capacity, Jean works with the National Policy Council, State and Regional offices,... [More]
Susannah Ali
,Adjunct Instructor
Susannah Bruns Ali (BA, University of Maryland – College Park; MPP, American University) is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. She worked as a Policy Analyst at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for P... [More]
Benjamin Bolitzer
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Benjamin Bolitzer is a Senior Economist in the Applied Research and Methods Group at the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). His areas of interest are program evaluation, applied econometrics, and labor economics. At the GAO he has participate... [More]
Andrew Brannegan
,Adjunct Instructor
Andrew Brannegan is presently a third-year PhD Public Administration and Policy student at American University’s School of Public Affairs. He received his Master of Public Policy from American University in 2010. His areas of research include educati... [More]
Javier Bronfman
,Adjunct Instructor
Javier Bronfman is presently a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs. He received his Master of Public Administration from Wagner Graduate School of Public se... [More]
Erik Devereux
,Senior Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Erik Devereux has worked for over 20 years in the public policy and management field, including teaching full-time at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College 1991-1998 and serving as executive director of the Association for Public Policy Analysis... [More]
George Guess
,Adjunct Professor
Dr. Guess has worked for more than 20 years providing technical assistance and training to strengthen and reform central and local government systems. From 2004-2007, he was Director of Research at the Open Society Institute's Local Government and Pu... [More]
Susan Jenkins
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Susan Jenkins currently works as a social science analyst with the US Department of Health and Human Services. She oversees several large scale evaluation contracts and helps to build staff evaluation capacity. She is an officer of the Eastern Evalu... [More]
Thaddeus Juszczak
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Mr. Juszczak has over 34 years of experience as a federal employee, manager, and executive. Serving in five different agencies (Army, EPA, IRS, Treasury IG, HHS) over his career, he regularly trained staff in developing, justifying, and executing age... [More]
Jerrold Keilson
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Jerrold Keilson has spent thirty years working in international affairs. He is Vice President of Planning, Communications and Development at Creative Associates, an international consulting firm that supports education, democracy and counterinsurgenc... [More]
Jiaqi Liang
,Adjunct Instructor
Jiaqi Liang is a PhD candidate in Department of Public Administration & Policy, majoring in Public Administration and Comparative Politics. Her research interests include administrative politics, policy implementation, program evaluation, environment... [More]
Sarah Pettijohn
,Adjunct Instructor
Sarah Pettijohn (BA, The University of Texas at Austin; MPA and graduate certificate in nonprofit management, The University of Texas at Dallas) is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research focuses o... [More]
Jaclyn Schede Piatak
,Adjunct Instructor
Jaclyn Schede Piatak is a PhD candidate in Public Administration and Policy. Her research interests include public and nonprofit management, volunteering, philanthropy, and social policy. Her dissertation, "The Changing Face of Public Service: Unders... [More]
Ilya Rahkovsky
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Ilya Rahkovsky works as a Research Economist at the Economic Research Service of USDA. In that role, he studies economic issues in food markets. He helps to develop policies to reduce incidence of obesity and diet related ailments such as cardio-vas... [More]
Beatrice Reaud
,Adjunct Instructor
Ms. Reaud specializes in public budgeting and finance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the City University of New York, Baruch College in Manhattan, and she is presently a PhD candidate in SIS. She has professional experience as a p... [More]
Robert Saunders
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Robert Saunders is a program officer in the Roundtable on Value and Science-Driven Health Care at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, fielding issues related to value and costs of health care. Rob came to the position from the offic... [More]
Michael Shelby
,Adjunct Professor
Dr. Michael Shelby is the Chief Economist in the Transportation and Climate Division of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Shelby analyzes climate change policy options and legislative... [More]
Costis Toregas
,Adjunct Associate Professor
Dr. Toregas teaches courses in Public Private Partnerships and IT as Empowerment for Public Administrators. His research interests include Computer Security and Information Assurance (which he pursues as the Lead Research Scientist at George Washingt... [More]
Elizabeth Wilke
,Adjunct Instructor
Elizabeth Wilke (M. Phil) is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her dissertation looks at the effects of reintegration assistance programs on the labor market and social capital outcomes of ex-combatants in N. Uganda and Sierra ... [More]
Jason Wolf
,Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
Dr. Jason Wolf is committed to developing the management skills critical to becoming a high performing public leader, teaching graduate level courses on Team Dynamics and Leadership. He currently serves as the Executive Director of The Beryl Institut... [More]
Faculty by Subfields
Environmental Policy
Jennifer Biddle
Robert Durant
Daniel Fiorino
Sonja Walti
Health Policy
Scott Bass
Tamara Hafner
Alison Jacknowitz
Taryn Morrissey
Jeremy Shiffman
Nonprofit Management
Organization Development
Katherine Farquhar
Robert Marshak
Public Policy Analysis
Rene Aubourg
Karen Baehler
Seth Gershenson
Bradley Hardy
Alison Jacknowitz
Laura Langbein
Sonja Walti
Public Finance & Budgeting
Public Management & Administration
Anna Amirkhanyan
Robert Durant
Jocelyn Johnston
Patrick Malone
John Marvel
Howard McCurdy
Stephanie Newbold
David Pitts
Barbara Romzek
David Rosenbloom
Edmund Stazyk
Robert Tobias
Meredith Walker
Social Policy
Anna Amirkhanyan
Scott Bass
Bradley Hardy
Alison Jacknowitz
Jocelyn Johnston
Laura Langbein
Taryn Morrissey





