Graduate programs: spagrad@american.edu
Our students learn from and collaborate with the intellectual powerhouse of our faculty—prominent scholar-practitioners whose professional engagements and leading-edge research spans public administration, management, and policy. They are inspiring mentors, and their expertise and research plays a vital role in policy development, both nationally and globally.
Khaldoun AbouAssi holds a PhD in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. From 2012-2015, Dr. AbouAssi was an Assistant Professor at the …
Professor Amirkhanyan’s research focuses on public and nonprofit management, organizational performance, public-private differences, and citizen participation. Her articles have been published in vari…
Michael Bader studies how cities and neighborhoods have evolved since the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He links long-term patterns of neighborhood racial change to the ways that race and class…
Professor 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). Her B.A. is from St. Olaf College (1981), where…
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 h…
Professor Durant resides in Atlanta, Georgia and is a founding partner of Emeritus Associates, LLC. His teaching and research focus were focused on executive branch politics, public management, policy…
Lewis Faulk is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public Affairs at American University. Dr. Faulk is a Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Center at American Un…
Nathan Favero is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. His research focuses on internal management, performance, research methodology, race/ethnicity, and custo…
Daniel J. Fiorino is the Director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Distinguished Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University. As faculty member in the Depar…
Carla Flink is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University in 2014. Professor Flink’s research int…
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 Teachin…
Professor Hardy is on leave to the Russell Sage Foundation during the 2018-2019 academic year. Hardy is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy and nonresident senior fellow in Ec…
Derek Hyra is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at American University. His research focuses on processes of neighborhood change, with an emphasis on housing, urban politics, and …
Alison Jacknowitz is the Interim Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University and an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administ…
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 Jo…
Professor Langbein teaches quantitative methods, program evaluation, policy analysis, and public choice. Her research fields include: theories of bureaucratic discretion, productivity, principal-agent…
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 anal…
Dave E. Marcotte is Professor in the Dept. of Public Administration and Policy and Director of the Washington Institute for Public Affairs Research. His recent research focuses on determinants of achi…
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, …
Dr. Morrissey's work centers on examining and improving public policies for vulnerable children. She is Associate Professor of public policy at AU, a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute, and a …
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…
Claudia Persico is multidisciplinary policy scholar whose research focuses on environmental policy, inequality, health and education policy. Her research on school finance reform has recently been fea…
Elizabeth Peters is a Professor and Scholar in Residence in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her work focuses on family and social investments in children and…
Daniel Puskin is a Professorial Lecturer of Public Administration and Policy. He teaches quantitative methods and economics for policy analysis. Before joining American, he worked as an economist in t…
Dr. Barbara Romzek is Professor of Public Administration and Policy. She served as Dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University from 2012-2017. Prior to her time at American University…
Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Rosenbloom specializes in constitutional-administrative law, administrative theory, history, reform, and personnel management. A major contributor to …
Professor Tekin is an economist with primary research interests in the fields of health economics and demographic economics. Within these fields, the main theme of his research is the economic analysi…
Robert Tobias teaches courses in public sector leadership in the Key Executive Leadership Programs. He also teaches facilitation and team development, conflict management and alternative dispute resol…
Dr. Ruth Wagner is a graduate of the AU MSOD program and a very active OD scholar-practitioner. After an early career in software engineering, Ruth led a change management practice of 50 consultants i…
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 environme…
Reginald F. Wells was named Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Human Resources effective July 15, 2002 after serving short tenures as Deputy Associate Commissi…
Vicky M. Wilkins is the Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her primary research interests include representative bureaucracy…
Rebecca Yurman is a Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research interests include regulatory policy, contract management, federalism, and food safety poli…
Dr. Ruth Zaplin is an Executive-in-Residence, School of Public Affairs, Department of Public Administration & Policy and Director of International Programs, Key Executive Leadership Programs at Americ…
Professor Addington’s research interests include the nature of violent crime and its impact on victims, measurement of crime, and utilization of U.S. crime statistics. In addition to her work at AU, s…
Dr. Marshak has taught organization dynamics and change leadership in SPA since 1977. His areas of expertise include: organizational change and development, dialogic organization development, organiza…
Dr. Jennifer L. Steele is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at American University, and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research,…
Dr. Jean Accius is a nationally recognized expert on aging policy, livable communities and long-term services and supports (LTSS). He currently serves as the Vice President of the Long-Term Services &…
Dr. Meredith (Walker) Anderson’s research spans Public Policy, Public Administration and Race and Ethnicity. Specifically, her work explores how representation, intersectionality, and equity influence…
Andrew Brannegan is presently the senior data analyst at Aspire Public Schools, which operates 40 schools in California and Tennessee. He received his PhD in Public Administration in 2014 and his Mast…
Javier received his PhD in Public Administration and Policy at American University, Washington D.C., in 2014. He received his Master of Public Administration from Wagner Graduate School of Public serv…
Quentin Brummet is currently an Adjunct Professorial Lecturer at American University and a Senior Research Economist at NORC at the University of Chicago. His research investigates questions in the ec…
Elizabeth Crowe is a Research Associate at the Urban Institute, where her research focuses on the role of government programs and private organizations in supporting low-income families in the U.S. To…
Anne Ferrante is the Director of Graduate Programs at American University’s Kogod School of Business and former Director of the Global Leadership Executive MBA program at the University of Texas at Da…
Michael Hatch is a doctoral student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. His research interests concern health and social policy, particularly the intersection of food insecurity and…
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 …
Nadeen Makhlouf holds a PhD in Public Administration from American University. Her research interests include global governance and comparative public policy and administration with a focus on North A…
Mark Maxin has over 30 years’ experience in federal sector employment law addressing critical issues involving equal employment opportunity, diversity, civil rights, bargaining and grievance rights, p…
Milena Nikolova is a Research Associate at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn, Germany and a Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Milena received her Ph.D. from the University …
William Paxton is a leading expert on ethics and the law. He counsels government officials, corporations, and their leaders on a wide range of issues including bet-the-organization ethical dilemmas, c…
Jeffrey Poirier, PhD, PMP, brings over 15 years of experience addressing an array of public policy issues and conducting policy and program evaluation related to human service systems. Dr. Poirier is …
Steven Putansu is a "pracademic," who splits his time between being a senior social science analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the one hand, and academic research and teachi…
Dr. Rahaman has over 25 years working nationally and internationally in diverse leadership positions building teams to design and implement both technical projects and overseeing geographically disper…
Brandon Ranallo-Benavidez is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Brandon’s research agenda is animated by the questions: “How does using …
Carletta Taylor Sims is currently serving as a Postdoctoral Scholar and Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. She teaches courses in financing government service…
Laura Sullivan holds a PhD in Social Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Her research interests focus on wealth and income inequalities over the life…
Matthew Vanderschuere has a PhD in Public Administration from American University and an M.P.A. from the University of Colorado-Denver. His research interests include human resource management, leader…
Winfield Wilson is an attorney and policy analyst specializing in environmental, natural resources, and labor issues. Wilson also teaches environmental law at the Washington College of Law. Wilson hol…