Department of Public Administration & Policy Faculty

Assistant 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]

Assistant Professor

Dr. Aubourg is a quantitative policy analyst with more than ten years of experience in economic growth and poverty alleviation, macroeconomic and fiscal policy management, cost benefit analysis, and project management. He has substantial managerial e... [More]

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]

Professor

Scott A. Bass is the Provost at American University and holds the faculty appointment of Professor of Public Administration and Policy, School of Public Affairs.A nationally known gerontologist, Dr. Bass has written or edited 8 books and over 45 arti... [More]

Professor

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]

Associate Professor

Katherine Farquhar (Director of the MSOD program) has a Ph.D. 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]

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]

Executive in Residence

Daniel J. Fiorino is Director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Executive in Residence at SPA. He also teaches courses on environmental and energy policy, environmental sustainability, and public management. Dan is the author or co-author of... [More]

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]

Assistant Professor

Tamara Hafner's research focuses on science and technology policy and global health. Her most recent work examines pharmaceutical research and development policy and its impact on the availability of existing medicines and the innovation of new medic... [More]

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]

Associate Professor

Alison Jacknowitz (PhD, Policy Analysis) is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy and Director of the Masters of Public Policy (MPP) Program. She regularly teaches Methods of Problem Solving I, Social Policy and Programs, and Pub... [More]

Department Chair, Public Administration and Policy

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]

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]

Executive-in-Residence

Dr Malone teaches courses in public sector leadership, leadership ethics, organizational analysis, and public administration. He also directs the AU Key Maritime MPA program. He is a frequent guest lecturer on leadership in multiple venues including ... [More]

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]

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]

Assistant Professor

Prior to joining the SPA faculty in fall 2010, Taryn Morrissey served as a Health Policy Advisor on the staff of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, first for Senator Edward Kennedy and then for Senator Tom Harkin.... [More]

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]

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]

Assistant Professor

David Pitts is a public management and policy scholar with a primary focus on representative bureaucracy and workforce diversity. His research examines how diversity among public officials can alter policy design and implementation, particularly when... [More]

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 Fellow in the National Academy of P... [More]

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]

Assistant Professor

Professor Stazyk’s research and teaching focuses on organization theory and behavior, public management, public administration theory, and human resource management. In addition to several book chapters, he has articles published in the Review of Pub... [More]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Adjunct Professorial Lecturer

Jean Accius serves as a Project Officer within the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In that role, he implements and directs national demonstration and grant programs design to support and imp... [More]

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]

Adjunct Professorial Lecturer

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]

Adjunct Instructor

Adjunct Professorial Lecturer

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 ag... [More]

Adjunct Instructor

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]

Adjunct Instructor

Jiaqi Liang is a PhD student in Department of Public Administration and Policy, majoring in Public Administration and Comparative Politics. Her research interests include administrative politics, comparative public administration, public policy proce... [More]

Adjunct Instructor

Adjunct Instructor

Mr. Marvel (BA, Amherst College; MPP, American University) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration & Policy (DPAP) at American University. He is currently completing his dissertation on public employee turnover. Mr. Marvel’s res... [More]

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 ... [More]

Adjunct Instructor

Jaclyn Schede is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her work experience includes assignments as a Program Analyst at OSHA and recent work at the U.S. Department of Labor. Her awards include the competitive... [More]

Adjunct Professorial Lecturer

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]

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]

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]

Adjunct Instructor

Cora Terry is a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia in the Department of Public Administration and Policy.  Cora's fields of study include organization theory and behavior, public administration and management, and public policy... [More]

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]

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, Organization Change, and Leadership. He currently serves as the Executive Director... [More]

Adjunct Instructor

Dr. Ruth Zaplin is the assistant director for the Key Executive Leadership Programs. Prior to becoming assistant director, Zaplin served as an executive coach and adjunct faculty member in the Key Programs. Her background includes developing and lead... [More]

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]

Professorial Lecturer

Dr. Meredith Walker is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research focuses on the areas of race and public administration and management. She recently completed her dissertation “Assessing the Intersecti... [More]