PhD Program Guide

1 
 
PhD Program Guide 
 
Doctor of Philosophy in  
Public Administration & Policy 
   
 
  
 
 
     
Department of Public Administration & Policy 
August 2022 
 
 
Welcome ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 
The Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration & Policy ....................................................................... 3 
The Georgia Advantage .................................................................................................................................. 3 
Tuition and Financial Aid ............................................................................................................................... 3 
Resources ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 
Apply Now ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 
Placement ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 
Program Description ....................................................................................................................................... 6 
Substantive Fields of Study ............................................................................................................................ 7 
Methodology Requirement ............................................................................................................................. 8 
Comprehensive Examinations ........................................................................................................................ 8 
Prospectus and Dissertation ............................................................................................................................ 9 
Faculty .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 
 
 
 

Welcome

Dear Prospective PhD Student:

Thank you for your interest in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public

Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia (UGA). Our program is recognized

worldwide as premier in the preparation of future scholars and teachers of public

administration and policy. Our stellar, highly diverse faculty are committed to providing you

with a firm academic foundation in the field in addition to exposure to a broad range of niche

areas of study within it. These include public management and organizational theory, public

budgeting and finance, human resource management, local government administration,

nonprofit management, and health policy, to name a few. The fundamental objective of our

doctoral program is to prepare students for exceptional academic careers as scholars and core

faculty at Research I Doctoral Universities.

Upon receiving your completed application with supporting materials and the

application fee ($75 for domestic applicants/$100 for international applicants), the UGA

Graduate School will forward your file to our departmental PhD Admissions Committee and

your application will be considered. Your application file must include a completed

application form, transcripts, official GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, and a

personal objectives statement. Non-native speakers of English must also submit official

TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo scores.

Admitted students enter as a cohort in the fall each year. Our program is a full-

time, in the classroom, on campus one with students enrolling on a full-time basis beginning

in the fall semester. We support our PhD students financially through departmental

assistantships. Students complete two years of coursework, prepare for and take

comprehensive written and oral exams and defend a dissertation prospectus in their third

year, and complete and defend their dissertation in the fourth year of the program.

Please be mindful of all materials necessary to apply as well as application

deadlines. Consult our Department’s website at https://spia.uga.edu/degree/doctor-of-

philosophy-phd-in-public-administration/ for more details about the program, application

materials and process. If you have any questions, please write, e-mail, or call me. We look

forward to receiving your application and extend very best wishes to you as you pursue your

academic and career goals.

Sincerely,

Katherine Willoughby

PADP PhD Program Director

Golembiewski Professor of Public Administration

E-mail: kwilloughby@uga.edu

Cell: 678.642.7248

The Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration &

Policy

Georgia’s PhD program in public administration and policy is designed to prepare students for

leading careers in teaching and research. The program has a strong research orientation and

maintains high standards in the admission and evaluation of students. Graduates of the program

have received numerous national dissertation awards in public administration and public policy.

They are placed in research intensive universities throughout the United States and in leading

institutions of higher learning around the globe where they contribute to the expansion of

knowledge in the fields of public management and policy analysis.

The Georgia Advantage

Our PhD students work closely with an award-winning, highly productive, and internationally

recognized research faculty. The aim of the program is to educate professionals who can generate,

share, and consume knowledge effectively in academic settings, and the curriculum is crafted

with those objectives in mind. First, it provides an appreciation for the broad range of issues --

economic, institutional, normative, and political -- that surround public administration and public

policy in the contemporary state. Second, it equips students with the research skills that are

needed to conduct original investigations of questions central to these fields. Finally, it immerses

students in the core issues, research traditions, and applied skills of a management or policy

specialization of their choice.

Completion of the PhD program normally requires two years of full-time course work and two

years of work on the dissertation. Comprehensive examinations are taken at the beginning of the

third year of the program, and the remainder of the third year should be devoted to the

dissertation prospectus and dissertation research. Completion of the PhD degree may require

more time for students who enter without significant previous graduate work in public

administration and public policy or who fail to complete degree requirements in a timely fashion.

Tuition and Funding

Information on tuition and fees can be found on the UGA Registrar Office’s website. However,

the Department of Public Administration and Policy places most PhD students on teaching or

research assistantships that provide tuition waivers and stipends ranging from approximately

$18,000 to $22,000 for a nine-month academic year. While summer funding is not guaranteed, we

work with students to help them secure summer assistance by way of providing teaching

opportunities, helping with grant applications, and/or matching students with faculty to work on

funded projects. Assistantships also require at least a 17 hour per-week work commitment and are

renewable for up to four years depending upon satisfactory academic success. To achieve renewal

for years two and three, students must maintain a 3.7 GPA and avoid grades of Incomplete except

in cases of documented medical hardship. In order to continue funding in year four, students must

have passed all comprehensive exams and successfully defended a dissertation prospectus before

July 31 of the third year.

Students are required to maintatin satisfactory academic progress each year in order to maintain

their funding.

Satisfactory Progress for Student Entering directly into the PhD program:

Year 1:

Cumulative GPA of 3.7 or greater

Successful completion of required and elective coursework

Successful performance of teaching/research assistantship responsibilities

Demonstration of ethics and a professional attitude

Year 2:

Cumulative GPA of 3.7 or greater

Successful completion of required and elective courses

Successful performance of teaching/research assistantship responsibilities

Demonstration of ethics and a professional attitude

Formation of comprehensive exam committee of 3 faculty members

Year 3:

Successful completion of written and oral comprehensive examinations

Successful performance in teaching/research assistantship responsibilities

Demonstration of ethics and a professional attitude

Demonstrated engagement in the intellectual life of the Department

Submission of at least one paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal

Successful defense of dissertation prospectus by July 31

Year 4:

Successful performance in teaching/research assistantship responsibilities

Demonstration of ethics and a professional attitude

Evidence of on-going efforts to revise/submit research papers for publication

Successful defense of dissertation

Students meet with the PhD Program Director during the summer of their first and second year to

discuss their performance in the program during the previous year. Students in their third or

fourth years meet with their major professors annually to discuss their performance in the

program.

All student should provide the following items to the PhD Program Director or major professor in

advance of any major review:

 Statement of Accomplishments -- a statement of no more than 3 pages outlining progress

in the program and plans for the immediate future

 Curriculum Vitae

 Copies of papers that have been published, accepted for publication, or are under review.

Resources

PhD students may utilize numerous campus resources while pursuing their program of study. The

University’s library system includes the UGA Main Library, Law Library, and Science Library.

The system contains vast holdings of periodicals and reference materials, is a government

depository, and ranks among the leading research libraries in the country. Our Department also

provides a small specialized library and state-of-the art computer technology center to assist

students in their studies. The Department offers travel assistance for students presenting research

at conferences. This information is sent out quarterly and is open to all students with at GPA of at

least 3.7.

Apply Now

1. Online Graduate School Application and fee ($75 domestic / $100 international).

2. One unofficial transcript from each institution of higher education attended, except the

University of Georgia (University of Georgia transcripts are on file). Upload transcripts through

the application portal or mail them directly to the UGA Graduate School.

3. Official GRE test score report. The UGA institutional code for ETS reporting is 5813. No

departmental code is required.

4. Applicants are prompted to upload a resume and statement of purpose. The statement of

purpose provides an opportunity to communicate to us how this program fits with your future

plans. Use this document to convey why this area of study and specifically this program are a

good fit with your career and educational goals. The statement of purpose should also highlight

your relevant experience and preparation for this program.

5. Applicants are asked to enter the email addresses of three recommenders. If you would rather

submit paper letters to the department, list your name and email address in the boxes on the

online application that ask for your recommenders. That way, only you will receive the electronic

letter of recommendation requests, which you may delete.

6. International applicants please see additional requirements.

Mail materials to:

Office of Graduate Admissions

The University of Georgia

Brooks Hall, 310 Herty Drive

Athens, GA 30602

Placement

Placement of graduates of the PhD program is excellent. Placements have been primarily at major

research universities including:

 American University

 Arizona State University

 Brigham Young University

 Binghamton University – SUNY

 City University of Hong Kong

 City University of New York

 Cleveland State University

 DePaul University

 Emory University

 Florida State University

 Georgia State University

 Indiana University, Bloomington

 Johnson Hopkins University

 Louisiana State University

 National University of Singapore

 New Mexico State University

 New York University

 Ohio University

 Ohio State University

 Pennsylvania State University

 Portland State University

 Rutgers University

 Seoul National University

 Syracuse University

 University at Albany, SUNY

 University of Arizona

 University of Colorado, Denver

 University of Deleware

 University of Florida

 University of Illinios, Chicago

 University of Kansas

 University of Minnesota

 University of Missouri

 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

 University of North Carolina, Charolette

 University of Oklahoma

 Universiity of Tennessee

 University of Texas, Dallas

 University of Washington

 Western Carolina University

 West Virgina University

Program Description

SUBSTANTIVE FIELDS OF STUDY

PhD students must prepare for comprehensive examinations in three substantive fields of study.

In consultation with the PhD Program Director, each student will select a minimum of three

courses from each of the fields listed below.

Public Administration and Management

This required field involves intensive coursework in issues of and approaches to the general field

of public administration, as well as coverage of major subfields, such as public personnel

administration, public financial administration, and organization theory. All students are required

to complete PADP 8710.

PADP 6490 Administrative Law

PADP 6910 Public Administration and Democracy

PADP 6920 Public Personnel Administration

PADP 6930 Public Financial Administration

PADP 6960 Organization Theory

PADP 8710 Ideas and Issues in Public Administration (required of all students)

PADP 8730 Doctoral Research Seminar in Public Administration

Policy Process and Analysis

This required field involves intensive course work in issues of and approaches to the study of

public policy generally, as well as in substantive policy areas that are of interest to the student

(e.g., educational policy or public welfare). All students are required to complete PADP 8620.

PADP 6940 Economic Foundations of Policy Analysis

PADP 7520 Urban Policy

PADP 8620 Policy Process (required of all students)

PADP 8630 Policy Implementation

PADP 8640 Program Evaluation

PADP 8670 Policy Analysis I

PADP 8680 Policy Analysis II

PADP 8850 Quantitative Analysis for Public Decision Making

Public Management or Policy Specialization

As a third field of study designed to focus a student’s interests and preparation for work on a

dissertation, each PhD student will develop a specialization in an area of public management or

public policy. This specialization will involve intensive course work in a distinct area. For

illustrative purposes, the following is a list of fields and courses from which a PhD student, in

consultation with the PhD Program Director, may build selected management or policy

specializations. The list is not intended to be exhaustive but only indicative of the options

available to PhD students.

Local Government Administration

PADP 7500 Local Government Management

PADP 7540 Economic Development

PADP 7930 Human Services Administration

PADP 8550 Intergovernmental Relations and Network Governance

PADP 8560 Special Topics in Urban Administration: Poverty

PADP 8810 State and Local Taxation

PADP 8840 Metropolitan Fiscal Problems

GEOG 6370 Geographic Information Science

GEOG 8630 Seminar in Urban Geography

Public Budgeting and Finance

PADP 6930 Public Financial Administration

PADP 7540 Economic Development

PADP 7840 Budget Practicum

PADP 8430 Public Financial Management

PADP 8830 Seminar in Public Budgeting

PADP 8840 Metropolitan Fiscal Problems

PADP 8850 Public Sector Decision-Making

PADP 9200 State and Local Taxation

ACCT 6000 Financial Accounting

Public Management - Organizational Theory

PADP 6960 Public Management

PADP 7360 Managing Government Performance

PADP 8420 Leadership in Public Service

PADP 8460 Organizational Behavior

PADP 8740 Frontiers of Public Management Research

PADP 8960 Organizational Development and Change

Public Personnel Administration

PADP 6920 Public Personnel Administration

PADP 7900 Managing Volunteers in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors

PADP 7920 EEO and Diversity

PADP 8420 Leadership in Public Service

PADP 8720 Seminar in Selected Problems in Public Personnel Administration

MGMT 7010 Lessons in Leadership

MGMT 9810 Seminar in Organizational Behavior

PSYC 6310 Introduction to Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Nonprofit Management

PADP 7210 Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector

PADP 7220 Nonprofit Governance and Management

PADP 7900 Managing Volunteers in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors

PADP 8210 Civil Society, Nonprofits, and Government

PADP 8220 Special Topics in Nonprofit Management: Marketing for Nonprofit and Public

Organizations

MNPO 7060 Fundraising and Development for Nonprofit Organizations

MNPO 7423 Innovation and Change in Nonprofit Organizations

MNML 7237 Theory and Management of Nonprofit Organizations

Health Policy

PADP 8610 Economics of Health Policy

PADP 8640 Program Evaluation

EHSC 7010 Fundamentals of Environmental Health Science

HPAM 7010 Introduction to Health Policy and Management

HPAM 7700 Public Health and Healthcare Ethics

HPAM 8400 Advanced Policy Analysis in Public Health

HPAM 8700 Advanced Management of Public Health Organizations

HPAM 8800 Leadership in Public Health

HPAM 8810 Health Policy Planning and Evaluation

HPAM 8900 Special Topics in Health Administration

HPRM 7070 Program Planning in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

HPRB 7270 Resource Development and Implementation in Health Promotion

HPRB 7470 Program Evaluation in Health Promotion and Health Education

HPRB 7500 Community Health Promotion

METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT

In addition to the above requirements, all PhD students must take the following four research

methods classes:

PADP 8110 The Logic of Social Inquiry

PADP 8120 Data Analysis and Statistical Inference

PADP 8130 Linear Models

PADP 8140 Advanced Topics in Statistical Modeling

Starting in Fall 2022, all PhD students will be required to take GRSC 7001 GradFirst: First-year

Research and Scholarship Training Seminar. The PhD Program Director and Enrolled Student

Services Coordinator will assist students in enrolling in the course seminar of their choice.

Comprehensive Examinations

As a requirement for admission to doctoral candidacy, all PhD students must pass written and oral

comprehensive examinations on their three substantive fields of study: public administration and

management, policy process and analysis, and a field of specialization intended to direct the

student’s development towards preparation for a specific, substantive dissertation topic.

Following successful completion of the 2-year, 13-course sequence, students take comprehensive

examinations at the beginning of their third year in the program.

The written examinations are administered in a take-home format on three consecutive Fridays

early in the fall semester each year. Each exam has a 5,000-word limit, and students have 12

hours on the given examination day to complete it. Exam questions are drafted to emphasize

theory as well as research design and analysis. The public administration and management and

the policy process and analysis exams are written and evaluated by departmental committees

consisting of the PhD Program Director and two other members of the faculty appointed by the

PhD Program Director. The examination in the field of specialization is written and evaluated by

a committee selected by the student. All exams consist of 3 sets of questions with 2 questions in

each set. Students choose 1 question from each set to craft a response. Committee members read

and will assign grades of: (1) high pass, (2) pass, or (3) fail.

Students who fail one of the three written exams will be given one opportunity to retake that

exam at the beginning of the following spring semester. Students who fail two or more of the

exams must retake all three exams and will be given one opportunity to do so at the beginning of

the following spring semester. The Department maintains a file of previous examination

questions for students to consult in preparation for the written field examinations.

The oral examination will be administered by the specialization examination committee selected

by the student once all written exams are passed. The oral exam may address any issues from the

student’s three written field exams, but the focus of the exam will be on the student’s presentation

of a sole-authored research paper suitable for submission to an academic journal or presentation

at an academic conference. Once written exams have been completed successfully, students work

with their specialization examination committee to schedule the oral exam by late fall semester or

early spring semester of the third year. Students must present their paper to their committee at

least two weeks prior to the scheduled oral exam. The intent of the paper is to allow students to

explore a topic that may be related to their dissertation interests. As such, the paper is expected to

reflect the student's own thoughts, analyses, and writing, or as understood in the Academy,

reflective of the student's independent scholarly thought. Students must disclose any faculty or

other assistance provided to them regarding the paper prior to submitting it to their committee so

the extent to which the paper represents requisite independent scholarly thought can be

determined.

Following passage of the oral exam, the student will be admitted into Doctoral Candidacy.

Students who fail the oral exam will have one more opportunity to stand for the oral exam no

sooner than the following non-summer term, and no later than one year after failing the exam.

Failure to pass the written or oral exams after the previously described opportunities to retake

them will result in the termination of a student’s matriculation in the program.

Before the comprehensive examinations are taken, the student must have completed all required

course work with at least a grade of “B.” All incomplete grades must be resolved prior to the

comprehensive examinations.

Prospectus and Dissertation

After a student is admitted to Doctoral Candidacy, the final requirement for the degree is

completion of a dissertation. The dissertation must be based on an original research project that

makes a substantial contribution to scholarship in the fields of public administration or public

policy. The first step in this process requires that the student choose a major professor from the

Department of Public Administration and Policy and two additional dissertation committee

members—one of whom may be from outside of the Department—that are members of UGA’s

Graduate faculty. The major professor will chair the committee. Additional voting members, with

proper rank, may be appointed to the committee, including no more than one non-UGA faculty,

who must hold the terminal degree in their field of study. If there are more than three members,

more than 50% must be members of the UGA Graduate Faculty. The student will work closely

with the major professor on all aspects of the dissertation but may also seek advice from other

committee members. The committee may be comprised of the same individuals who served on

the committee for the specialized field examination. Ultimately, the dissertation committee must

formally approve the dissertation.

Once the committee is in place, the student must prepare a dissertation proposal or prospectus.

The prospectus identifies a problem to be explored, draws on relevant literature to show the

significance of the problem for public administration or public policy, sets forth a line of

argumentation to be pursued or hypotheses to be tested, and describes the approach or methods

and the data that will be employed in conducting the research. The prospectus must be written in

consultation with the student’s major professor, and the student must defend the prospectus to

their full dissertation committee. To remain in good standing in the PhD program, a student must

have an approved dissertation prospectus by the end of the third year of full-time study. Work on

the dissertation cannot proceed until the prospectus is approved.

After the dissertation has been completed and approved for defense by the dissertation committee,

a final oral examination is scheduled for defense of the dissertation. The student must receive a

majority of positive votes from the members of the dissertation committee to pass the defense.

Once the dissertation is approved, defended, corrected, and edited as necessary, approval forms

are signed by the major professor, other committee members, and the student, and the dissertation

is submitted by the student to the Graduate School. Students must be careful to prepare the

dissertation in conformity to all Graduate School specifications

Faculty

The faculty of the Department of Public Administration and Policy includes scholars of national

and international reputation. For more information, visit: https://t.uga.edu/65r

Amanda J. Abraham, Associate Professor (PhD, Louisiana State University, 2006), specializes

in addiction health services research and health policy. Her current work focuses on the impact of

federal and state policy on the accessibility and quality of substance use disorder treatment. Dr.

Abraham currently serves as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on numerous federal

grants including a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

to examine the effects of Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) benefit design for alcohol

use disorder on the receipt of treatment and adverse alcohol-related health outcomes. In addition,

she currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (JSAT).

Dr. Abraham’s work has been published in top journals, including Health Affairs, JAMA Internal

Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Health Services Research, Psychiatric Services,

and Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Email: aabraham@uga.edu

L. Jason Anastastasopoulos, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of California, Berkeley,

2014), is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Statistics and a faculty affiliate at the

Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He teaches classes on the governance and regulation of

technological innovation, technology and international politics and statistical methodology. His

research focuses on governance and technology, behavioral public administration, international

political economy, and statistical methodology with a focus on causal inference and machine

learning. His work has been published in political science, public administration, and computer

science journals including: The American Political Science Review, Political Analysis, The Public

Administration Review, The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and

Electoral Studies & Governance. Dr. Anastasopoulos has also held visiting appointments at

Princeton, Emory, UC Berkeley and Harvard. Email: ljanastas@uga.edu

Matthew R. Auer, Dean and Arch Professor of Public and International Affairs at the School of

Public and International Affairs (PhD, Yale University 1996), Prior to his appointment at UGA,

Auer served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Bates College,

was Dean of the Hutton Honors College at Indiana University (IU) and Professor of International

Environmental Affairs at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU. Auer has

authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on

environmental, energy, and foreign aid policy. Auer is a member of the Executive Council of the

Society of Policy Scientists and former editor in chief of the journal, Policy Sciences.

Auer has served in a variety of public policy roles at national and international levels. He was

senior adviser to the U.S. Forest Service from 2001 to 2006, and during that time was a member

of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Forum on Forests and to the International Tropical

Timber Council. Auer has implemented and evaluated energy and environmental aid programs

for the U.S. Agency for International Development and for foreign aid agencies in, among other

countries, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Poland,

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Matt received a Ph.D., an M.S., and an M.Phil. in forestry and environmental studies from Yale, a

master’s of law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts

University, and an A.B.magna cum laude in anthropology from Harvard University. Email:

matthew.auer@uga.edu

Emily V. Bell, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Arizona, 2018) is a faculty affiliate at the

UGA’s River Basin Center, and a faculty fellow at the Center for International Trade and

Security. Her research focuses on policy coordination, collaboration, and stakeholder cognition in

environmental governance. She examines these factors as they relate to adaptation, hazard

mitigation, and navigating uncertainty and complexity in aspects such as planning and policy

innovation. To address core questions in her work, she uses inferential and descriptive techniques,

including social network analysis, linear modeling, and automated text analysis. Dr. Bell has

published in journals including the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory and

Environmental Science and Policy. Currently, she is advancing NSF-funded work on

collaborative efforts to re-envision urban stormwater management, and is leading research in

collaborative processes in both regional water planning and procedural decisions for waste

disposal. Email: [email protected]

W. David Bradford, is a health economist in the Department of Public Administration and

Policy at UGA. His research ranges across diverse fields, including substance use policy,

pharmaceutical policy, housing instability, and the role of time and risk preferences in individual

decision-making. Currently, a significant portion of his research efforts involves understanding

the impact of cannabis and opioid policies on health behaviors and outcomes. He also has active

research projects investigating the interrelationship between landlord-tenant policies, eviction,

homelessness, and deaths of despair. Dr. Bradford is Co-Editor for Health Economics, one of the

top two journals in his field, and is an Associate Editor for Implementation Research and

Practice. He is an elected member of the governing board for the American Society of Health

Economists and serves on the oversight board of the Southeastern Health Economics Study

Group annual conference. Finally, Dr. Bradford frequently provides expert witness testimony in

health care related litigation. Email: brad[email protected]

Gene A. Brewer, Associate Professor (Ph.D., University of Georgia, 2001), is an internationally

recognized public management scholar. His current research interests include public sector

reform, government performance, international and comparative administration, organization

theory and behavior, public policy implementation, rules and red tape, and bureaucratic

accountability in democratic political systems. He is currently a partner or advisor on several

large research projects and consortiums in the U.S., UK, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Brewer has more

than forty-five years of work experience in public and nonprofit organizations and regularly

lectures, consults, and conducts research in the U.S. and abroad on a wide range of topics related

to public administration, management, and the policy process. He is Visiting Professor of Public

Management at Utrecht University School of Governance in the Netherlands; Guest Fellow at

Catholic University’s Public Governance Institute in Leuven, Belgium; Global Professor of

Public Administration at the Institute of Public Affairs in the Republic of Georgia; and has

similar but less formal affiliations with several other universities and public institutions around

the world. Dr. Brewer is active in the profession: he sits on several editorial boards and serves as

an officer for several professional associations. He co-authored and co-edited Public Service

Performance: Research Directions (Cambridge University Press, 2010; Korean version published

in 2012); and Managing for Public Service Performance: A People-Based Perspective (currently

under review by Oxford University Press). Email: cmsbrew@uga.edu

Alex Combs, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of Kentucky, 2018), Dr. Combs’ research

involves state and local finance in education. His work focuses on the adequacy and equity of K-

12 funding in response to school finance equalization, tax and expenditure limits, and various

features of the property tax, with particular interest in differences between rural and non-rural

communities. He also studies the impacts of state funding for higher education on student

outcomes and institutional budgets. Before arriving at UGA, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher for

the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Center for Statistics. Prior to pursuing a Ph.D., he

worked in the nonprofit sector organizing philanthropic initiatives and developing educational

programming. Email: alex.combs@uga.edu

Inkyu Kang, Assistant Professor (Ph.D., Rutgers University - Newark, 2022), Prior to his

academic career, he served as an Inspector in the National Police in South Korea for more than

four years, which inspired his interest in various aspects of policing and public service. His

overarching research theme is to reconcile public management with democratic values such as

equity, representation, and accountability. Within this framework, he addresses various questions

that are centered around street-level bureaucracy, citizen-state interactions, and performance

management and leadership. His methodological approaches are varied, including vignette and

conjoint experiments, natural and quasi-experiments, observational studies using surveys and

administrative data, and mixed-methods approach. He is passionate about producing quality

research that connects to pressing issues in the real world. Email: ink[email protected]

J. Edward Kellough, Professor of Public Administration and Policy (PhD Miami University,

1987), specializes in the field of public personnel management. He is an elected Fellow of the

National Academy of Public Administration. He has served as President of the Network of

Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), has been a member of the

NASPAA Executive Council and served on the NASPAA Commission on Peer Review and

Accreditation. He has served also as Chair of the Section on Public Administration of the

American Political Science Association and as Chair of the American Society for Public

Administration, Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations. He is on the editorial

boards of numerous academic journals. Dr. Kellough served previously as the Head of the

Department of Public Administration and Policy, as MPA Director, and PhD Director. He

received the John Gaus Award from the American Political Science Association, Honoring a

Lifetime of Excellence in Scholarship in the Joint Tradition of Political Science and Public

Administration, in 2019. He has published widely in the field of public administration. Email:

kellough@uga.edu

George A. Krause, Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor of Public Administration (PhD,

West Virginia University, 1994). His core research interests center on governance,

accountability, and representation in the United States. His current research activities investigate

both the selection and the role of administrative leadership in U.S. federal government agencies,

the exercise of executive authority, the implications of shared power arrangements for democratic

governance and policymaking within the administrative state, and the institutional and

organizational aspects of fiscal policymaking in the realm of democratic politics. Dr. Krause is

the 2012 recipient of the Herbert A. Simon Award [for Significant Career Scholarly Contributions

to the Scientific Study of Bureaucracy], administered by the Midwest Political Science

Association. His article with Daniel Carpenter, Reputation and Public Administration, was

selected as one of the 75 Most Influential Articles Published in the 75 Year History of Public

Administration Review (2014). Email: gk[email protected]

Thomas P. Lauth, Professor Emeritus of the School of Public and International Affairs (PhD,

Syracuse University, 1976), was a faculty member at the University of Georgia from 1981-2013,

served as Head of the Department of Political Science, 1988-2001, and Dean of the School of

Public and International Affairs, 2001-2013. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 peer

reviewed journal articles and invited book chapters; the coauthor of Compromised Compliance:

Implementation of 1965 Voting Rights Act (1982) and The Politics of State and City

Administration (1986); and the co-editor of Governors, Legislatures, and Budgets: Diversity

Across the American States (1991) and Budgeting in the States: Institutions, Processes and

Politics (2006). In 1998, he received the Aaron B. Wildavsky Award for Lifetime Scholarly

Achievement in Public Budgeting, presented by the Association for Budgeting and Financial

Management. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration

(NAPA), and was President of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and

Administration (NASPAA), 2000-01. He has taught courses, delivered lectures, and presented

papers in China, Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine, and U.K. In 2010, he delivered the 100th Anniversary

Graduate Commencement Address at the University of Georgia. During his years as an active

faculty member he directed 30 Ph.D. dissertations. He earned the B.A. in Government from the

University of Notre Dame, and the Ph.D. in Political Science from the Maxwell School of

Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. Email: [email protected]

Emily C. Lawler, Assistant Professor (PhD, Vanderbilt University, 2018) specializes in the fields

of health economics and applied microeconomics. Her recent work focuses on the effects of

public policies on maternal and child health, with a particular emphasis on the impacts of

vaccination and pharmaceutical policy on health and health behaviors. Dr. Lawler’s work has

been published in the American Economic Journal, Economic Policy, Journal of Health

Economics, American Journal of Health Economics, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Psychiatric

Services. Email: Emily.lawler@uga.edu

Jerome S. Legge, Professor Emeritus (PhD, Emory, 1975), has served as the Director of the

MPA program (1981-2002), the Associate Dean of SPIA (2002-2011), and is currently serving as

the University’s Associate Provost for Academic Planning where he is responsible for strategic

planning, program assessment, and University accreditation. His most important works are

Abortion Policy: An Evaluation of the Consequences for Maternal and Infant Health (SUNY,

1985), Traffic Safety Reform in the United States and Great Britain (Pittsburgh, 1991), and Jews,

Turks, and Other Strangers: The Roots of Prejudice in Modern Germany (University of

Wisconsin Press, 2003). His primary current interests are in the areas of immigration policy,

ethnic politics, comparative privatization with an emphasis on Europe, and on the attitudes of

Europeans toward genetically modified foods and support for stem cell research. His articles have

been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Administration

and Society, Political Research Quarterly, Policy Studies Review, Social Science Quarterly,

Public Administration Review, and numerous other journals. Dr. Legge has taught, researched, or

lectured in Estonia, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Israel,

China, Korea, and Canada. Email: jlegg[email protected]

Michelle L. Lofton, Assistant Professor (PhD, Syracuse University, 2018), is an Assistant

Professor of Public Budgeting and Finance in the Department of Public Administration and

Policy. Her core research agenda investigates financial tools used for public cash flow

management and the impacts of fiscal institutions on government finances. Dr. Lofton’s

substantive research topic interests include subnational public financial management, state and

local budgeting implementation, and the intersection between public finance and public

management. She teaches graduate student courses in public financial administration and public

management. Dr. Lofton’s publications appear in Public Budgeting & Finance, Public Finance

Review, Municipal Finance Journal, International Journal of Public Sector Management, and

Journal of School Choice. Professionally, she serves as an Association for Budgeting and

Financial Management Executive Committee Member (2022-2024 term) and Treasurer for

American Society for Public Administration Georgia Chapter (2021-22 and 2022-23 terms).

Email: mlofton@uga.edu

Felipe Lozano-Rojas, Assistant Professor (PhD, Indiana University Bloomington, 2020), His

research lies in the intersection between public finance and social policy. His research focuses on

taxation, individual behavior, and on revenue-generating social-policies that provide different

levels of governments with fiscal independence. He studies both the intended and unintended

consequences of such policies. Dr. Lozano-Rojas’ specific interests include sugar-sweetened

beverages taxation, local government sales tax rate setting, higher education financial aid, sales

tax holidays, and, more recently, public finance and policy responses to the opioid epidemic and

to the COVID-19 epidemic. Dr. Lozano-Rojas earned his Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Indiana

University, and his research has been portrayed by the Tax Foundation, AUSTax Blog, the Wall

Street Journal, and NPR. Previously, Dr. Lozano-Rojas served as a Consultant for the World

Bank, in matters related to student financial aid, and was the Chief Planning Officer for ICETEX,

the student loan agency in his home country, Colombia. Email: flozano@uga.edu

Rebecca Nesbit, Associate Professor (PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington, 2008), teaches

classes on the nonprofit sector, nonprofit management and governance, managing volunteers, and

other special topics. Dr. Nesbit’s research explores volunteerism, volunteer management, and

philanthropy. In particular, she conducts research on volunteer programs in public and nonprofit

organizations, situational influences on volunteers’ characteristics and motivations, and volunteer

management in public and nonprofit organizations. Her work has appeared in Nonprofit and

Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, Public Administration

Review, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Administration &

Society. Dr. Nesbit currently serves as an area editor for Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector

Quarterly. Email: [email protected]

Laurence J. O’Toole Jr., Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus (PhD, Syracuse

University, 1975), has lectured and conducted basic and applied research on public

administration, policy, and networks widely in North America, Eastern and Western Europe,

Africa, Asia, and Australia. He has authored, co-authored, or edited 12 books and has published

more than 170 journal articles and chapters. His research has been supported by many

governments and government agencies. Dr. O’Toole has received numerous awards for his

teaching and research, including the Charles Levine Award from the American Society for Public

Administration and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration

(2002); the Dwight Waldo Award (2005) from the American Society for Public Administration,

for outstanding contributions to the literature and leadership of public administration through an

extended career; and the John Gaus Award and Lectureship (2009) from the American Political

Science Association, in honor of his “lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of

political science and public administration.” Email: cm[email protected]

Hal G. Rainey, Professor Emeritus (PhD, Ohio State, 1978), is a Fellow of the National

Academy of Public Administration and has received numerous national awards including the

Charles Levine Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service (1995), the Dwight

Waldo Award for career contributions to scholarship in public administration (2009), John Gaus

Award for a “lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and

public administration,” the Duncombe Award for Excellence in Doctoral Education (2015), and

the Frederickson Award for Career Contributions to Public Management Research (2016). He

has served as chair of the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science

Association and chair of the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management.

Email: hgrainey@uga.edu

Cory Struthers, Assistant Professor (PhD, University of California, Davis, 2018), studies how

public demands, scientific information, special interests, and institutional settings shape

policymakers’ decisions on climate and the environment. Her work has been published in the

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, American Politics Research, Current

Opinion on Environmental Sustainability, and Oxford University Press. She has received funding

from the UGA Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant and the USDA National Institute for

Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Dr. Struthers is an affiliate of several UGA organizations,

including the Georgia Initiative on Climate and Society, River Basin Center, and Center for

Integrative Conservation Research. She teaches courses on climate and environmental policy,

policy process, and social justice. Before arriving at UGA, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in

the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Center

for Environmental Policy and Behavior at UC Davis. Email: cory[email protected]

Andrew B. Whitford, Alexander M. Crenshaw Professor of Public Policy, (PhD, Washington

University in St. Louis, 1997). His current research centers on moral hazard and emerging

technologies. Recent papers have focused on expert systems, cameras, robotics, and

cryptocurrency. His most recent book discusses the management of scientists at the CDC. He is

also an Honorary Professor at University College London, a Member in the UGA Center for

Cyber-Physical Systems, and Research Fellow in Arizona State University’s Center for

Organization Research and Design. He has also spent time at the University of Manchester as

Hallsworth Visiting Professor in Political Economy, at the National University of Singapore as a

Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, at University College London as Visiting Honorary

Senior Research Associate, in Germany as a Fulbright German Studies Seminar Scholar, and at

the University of Michigan as a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research. Email:

[email protected]

Katherine G. Willoughby, Margaret Hughes and Robert T. Golembiewski Professor of Public

Administration, Professor of Public Andministration and Policy, and PhD Director in the

Department of Public Administration and Policy (PhD, University of Georgia, 1991). In her +30

year career, she has taught courses in public management, budgeting, finance, statistics, and

research methods. Her scholarship appears in journals and books, professional publications, and

is disseminated through blogs, podcasts, and media. She serves on the editorial boards of several

academic journals, was chair and treasurer of the Association of Budgeting and Financial

Management (ABFM), and is a fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration. Dr.

Willoughby received the 2016 ABFM Wildavsky Award for lifetime scholarly achievement in

public budgeting and finance. She is experienced in consulting with entities such as The World

Bank, USAID, The Pew Trusts, and the Sloan Foundation, among others. She serves as an invited

speaker, guest lecturer, course trainer, and advisor to governments globally. Her research regards

public management and budgeting, focusing on decision making, process innovation, fiscal

health, emergency management, and government resiliency. Email: kwilloughby@uga.edu

Bradley E. Wright, Professor and Head of the Department of Public Administration and Policy

(Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany, 2001), specializes in organizational behavior.

Dr. Wright’s research focuses on how employee attitudes and behavior are influenced by the

interaction between characteristics of employees and their organizational work environment. Dr.

Wright is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the former editor of the

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Prior to joining the University of

Georgia, he was on the faculty at Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina

at Charlotte, and has held several positions in public higher education administration in both

Michigan and New York. Email: bew@uga.edu

Eric S. Zeemering, Associate Professor and MPA Director, (Ph.D., Indiana University, 2007),

His research investigates local governance and intergovernmental relations, including interlocal

contracting for municipal service delivery and the design and performance of networks for local

environmental governance. Currently, he is completing research on the local government

response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including state and local use of federal aid stemming from

the pandemic. He serves as the co-editor of State and Local Government Review and co-edited the

recent book Conflict and Cooperation between State and Local Government. Dr. Zeemering’s

interest in local government led to his elected service on the city council in Rockford, Michigan

(1999-2001), and appointed service on the Kent County Housing Commission (2003-2006), and

the Daly City Parks and Recreation Commission (2009-2011). Email: eric.zeem[email protected]

The University of Georgia is an equal opportunity educational institution. No applicant will be discriminated against

because of race, sex (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin, religion, age,

disabled status, or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.