World-Class Faculty
Our students learn from and collaborate with our world-class faculty, whose professional engagements and scholarship spans public administration, management, policy, and human services. They are inspiring mentors, and their expertise and research play a vital role in public policy and program development, both locally and globally.
Tenured and Tenure-track Faculty

Bob Blankenberger, Ph.D.
Professor, Academic Lead - DPA
Areas of Interest: Public Policy, Higher Education, & Program Implementation

Beverly Bunch, Ph.D.
Professor
Areas of Interest: Capital Financing, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations, & State & Local Government budgeting

Ty Dooley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Areas of Interest: Social Justice, Program Evaluation, Housing Policy, Policing and Community Development
with a focus on the impact of public policy on marginalized population

B.J. Fletcher
Assistant Professor
Areas of interest: Public policy, food policy and food systems, phenomenology, Social Constructionism, Social Construction of Target Populations Theory, urban policy, smart cities, sustainability policy, science and technology policy, AI in the public sector, public policy analysis, program evaluation, and administrative ethics.

Richard Funderburg, Ph.D.
Professor, Academic Lead - MPA
Areas of Interest: State & Local Economic
Development Policy, Community Planning

Youngjin Kang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & HMS Academic Lead
Areas of Interest: Child and Family Studies

Arwi Kriz, D.P.A.
Associate Professor
Areas of Interest: Public Budgeting & Finance, Fiscal Policy & Economic Growth, Government Efficiency Measurement

Kenneth Kriz, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor
Areas of Interest: Subnational Debt, Economic & Revenue Forecasting, & Behavioral Public Finance

Gary Reinbold, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Areas of Interest: U.S. Social Policy & International Poverty & Development

Joe Schweickert
Visiting Assistant Professor
Areas of Interest: Public human resource management, Public Service Motivation, Non-profit management, Veteran's issues

Junfeng Wang, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Areas of Interest: Environmental policies, Nonprofit leadership, and MPA education

Suyang Yu Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Areas of Interest: disaster response, public organizations adaption to climate change
Affiliated Faculty

J. Travis Bland, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Health, Science, & Technology
Areas of Interest: Public Management, Ethics, & Organizational Health & Design
Emeritus Status

Will Miller, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Areas of Interest: Public Policy, Desegregation, Citizen Participation

Denise Bockmier-Sommers, Ed.D.
Professor Emerita
Areas of Interest: Supervisory Competencies, Organizational Diversity
Betsy Goulet, DPA
Clinical Assistant Professor Emerita
Area of interest: Child protection training