I am currently an Associate Professor of Public Administration at the University of Idaho where I research local government management, data science, generative artificial intelligence, budgeting, and economic development. I also serve as the Associate Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Science at the University of Idaho, a CLEAR Fellow at the University of Southern California, and a member of the CivicPulse Academic Advisory Board. I graduated with my Ph.D. from the University of North Texas in 2015. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I did not go directly into academia. Instead, I worked at the North Central Texas Council of Governments as a Transportation Planner then as the Grant Manager at the John Peter Smith Foundation. This experience was invaluable in shaping my understanding of local governance and changing the way I approach research.
My research into local governments is eclectic–much like my professional history–and explores data science, generative AI, budgeting and economic development. More specifically, I study competition among local governments, economic development and municipal fiscal health, data science in the public sector, and the application of generative AI in public administration research. My research has been published in Public Administration Review, Public Administration, the American Review of Public Administration, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Urban Affairs, State and Local Government Review, the International Journal of Public Administration, Public Finance Journal, Municipal Finance Journal, Global Public Policy and Governance, the Review of Regional Studies, Public Money and Management, Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, and Teaching Public Administration.
While I teach a variety of courses, I primarily teach courses in Local Government Management, Public Budgeting and Finance, Research Methods, and Data Science. I enjoy finding unique ways to introduce students to public administration. For example, I developed and taught an introductory PA course for undergraduates that required no textbook and instead assigned episodes of Parks and Recreation. My strongest pedagogical contribution has been in the area of data science where I have taught multiple courses for MPA students and even designed a graduate level data science certificate for those without math or programming backgrounds. I also serve as a Major Professor for 38 graduate students and chair two doctoral dissertations.
My career has been a wild ride and while I still feel uncomfortable about promoting this information because it feels like bragging, I have received the following awards and honors:
I am proud to serve the public sector in my role as a professor. It is a gift to have the flexibility to research, teach, and collaborate with local governments to serve the public.
If you care to read more about me, you can find a more in-depth profile here