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The Taubman Center for Public Policy features a number of outstanding professors interested in various aspects of public policy.

ANNA AIZER, Assistant professor of economics and public policy
Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles (2002)
Previous appointment at Princeton University

Specializations in health policy and the economics of health care. Current research focuses on the effects of maternal employment on child care and adolescent behavior, improving the health insurance coverage for poor children, and the role Medicaid plays in improving child health care coverage.

SCOTT W. ALLARD, Assistant professor of political science and public policy Ph.D., University of Michigan (1999)
Previous appointments at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School

Specializations in federalism, welfare policy, and urban politics and policy. Current research includes work on the new urban geography of social welfare policy, including how access to job opportunities and social services affect self-sufficiency among low-income populations. In addition, Allard has a number of projects exploring the historical evolution of the American welfare state.

BILL ALLEN , Adjunct assistant professor of public policy Master of Social Planning, Boston College (1971)

Specializations include nonprofit organizations and community-building. He is a past executive vice president of the United Way of Rhode Island, where he led a community-building operation focused on system change and achieving results.

ADELINE BECKER , Executive director of the Education Alliance and an adjunct professor in public policy, education, and Portuguese studies
A.M. and Ph.D., Brown University (1977)

Her primary areas of expertise are the impact of language and cultural diversity on education, cross-cultural literacy, educational leadership, and urban education policy. Her research and publications focus on the intersection of educational leadership, policy development, and student
diversity.

COREY L. BRETTSCHNEIDER, Assistant professor of political science and public policy Ph.D., Princeton University (2002)
Previous appointment at Princeton University.

Specializations in modern political theory, ethics and public policy, theories of rights, civil liberties, American constitutional interpretation, and the philosophy of law. Current research focuses on property and theories of retributive and distributive justice.

RUSSELL CAREY, Adjunct assistant professor of public policy. 

Specializations include higher education policy and governance issues

ROSS E. CHEIT, Associate professor of political science and public policy, director of the center’s law and public policy program J.D. and Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley (1981 and 1986)
Previous appointments at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oregon Supreme Court, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Specializations in public law and public policy. He is finishing a book examining child sexual abuse. Other current research includes the false memory “crisis” and child protective services and the criminal justice system. His book Setting Safety Standards: Regulation in the Public and
Private Sectors was published by the University of California Press.

BRETT M. CLIFTON, Assistant Director of Administration
and Programs and lecturer of public policy Ph.D., Brown University (2002) Previous appointments at Bryant College

Specializations in religion and public policy, political organizations, and campaigns and elections. Current research focuses on assessing the impact of campaign reform efforts on public opinion and the U.S. electoral system.

JACK D. COMBS, Research director and adjunct lecturer in public policy A.B.D., Ohio State University

Specializations in data analysis and methodology, especially geographic information systems and computer networking. Current research focuses on U.S. census data.

ROBERT FLANDERS , Adjunct assistant professor of public policy
J.D., Harvard Law School (1974) Previous appointments at Edwards & Angell, Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Corporation (general counsel), and Rhode Island Supreme Court (justice)

Specializations include constitutional theory and the judicial process.

BROOKE HARRINGTON, Assistant professor of sociology and public policy Ph.D., Harvard University (1999) Previous appointments at Stanford University and Harvard University

Specializations in organizational and economic sociology, organizational communication, behavioral economics, the sociology of gender, and sociological methodology. Current research focuses on the sociology
of investing, voluntary organizations, and gender and self-presentation.

CHRISTINE HEENAN , Adjunct assistant professor of public policy
Previous appointments at the White House Domestic Policy Council and
Brown University Interests include communication, group advocacy for change, and health care policy. She is the founder and president of the Clarendon Group, a communications, government relations, and public policy consulting firm.

CARL F. KAESTLE, Professor of education and public policy Ph.D., Harvard University (1971) Previous appointments at Harvard University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Chicago

Specializations in the history of American education and the impact of public policy on education. His books include Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society and Literacy in the United States: Readers and Reading since 1880 (with Damon-Moore, Stedman, Tinsley, and Trollinger).

BRIAN G. KNIGHT, Assistant professor of economics and public policy Ph.D., University of Wisconsin (2000) Previous appointments at University of Wisconsin and the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board

Specializations in fiscal federalism and fiscal institutions. Current research focuses on fiscal policymaking and the impact of political redistricting on funding decisions.

JENNIFER LAWLESS, Assistant professor of political science and public policy Ph.D., Stanford University (2003)

Specializations in gender, political behavior, and political institutions. Topics of recent articles and working papers include women candidates’ decision to run for political office, Congresswomen’s decisions to retire from office, and political participation among the urban poor. She is the coauthor of It Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office
(Cambridge University Press).

GLENN LOURY, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and professor of economics and public policy Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1976)
Previous appointments at Harvard University and Boston University

His research focuses on affirmative action, identity, racial stigma, racial justice, and wage inequality. He is working on a book about race, inequality, and the promise of economic theory.

MINH LUONG , Adjunct assistant professor of public policy Previous appointments at Yale University, International Affairs Council, Ivy Scholars Program, and Advocacy Associates Consultants

Specializations include management consulting, technology policy, conflict resolution, and law and privacy.

PETER MARINO , Adjunct assistant professor of public policy M.P.A., Syracuse University’s Maxwell School (1993)
Previous appointments at the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (director of policy and municipal affairs) and Rhode Island College
His research focuses on public finance, budget analysis, and education policy.

JIM MARTON, Postdoctoral research associate in public
policy
Ph.D., Washington University (2002) Previous appointments at St. Louis University and Washington University

Specializations include health economics, flexible spending account participation, employer-provided health insurance, and Medicaid and child health outcomes.

PATRICK J. MCGUIGAN, Visiting lecturer in public policy M.S., Harvard University (1977) Previous appointments at the Boston Public Facilities Department, Boston Neighborhood Housing Services, the
Massachusetts Community Development Finance Corporation, and the Technical Development Corporation

He is currently serving as executive director of The Providence Plan where he leads work on community development.

EDWARD MILLER , Assistant professor of public policy, political science, and community health (research) Ph.D., University of Michigan (2003) Previous appointment at Yale University

Specializations include health care policy, policy analysis, and state politics. His current research focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in the use of high-volume hospitals and health services at Veteran Affairs medical centers.

MILAGROS NORES , Postdoctoral research associate in public
policy
Ph.D., Columbia University (2006)

Specializations include education and economics, early childhood education, and comparative education policy.

MARION ORR, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and professor of political science, urban studies, and public policy Ph.D., University of Maryland (1992)
Previous appointment at Duke University

Specializations in urban politics, urban educational policy, urban school reform, urban public policy, urban poverty and the underclass, and African-American politics. His coauthored book , The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education, was published in 1999 by Princeton University Press and received an award from the American Political Science Association as “the best book published on urban politics in 1999.” His book, Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore ,received the Policy Studies Association’s Aaron Wildavsky Award for outstanding policy studies book.

TONI POLE , Postdoctoral research associate in public policy Ph.D., City University of New York Graduate School (2005)

Her specializations include technology policy, state government, and representation. Her dissertation was entitled “Emocracy: Information Technology and State Legislatures.”

ERIC REED , Postdoctoral research associate in
public policy
Ph.D., University of Iowa (2006)
Previous appointments at the National Center for Education Statistics

Specializations in education policy and teacher training.


WENDY J. SCHILLER, Associate professor of political science and public policy Ph.D., University of Rochester (1994)
Previous appointments at the Brookings Institution, Princeton University, the office of U.S. Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, and the State of New York

Specializations in parties and interest groups, Congress, and statistics. Current research focuses on the U. S. Senate and on interest-group influence on trade politics. Schiller’s book, Partners and Rivals:
Representation in U.S. Senate Delegations, was published in 2000 by Princeton University Press.

JAMIE SCURRY , Adjunct lecturer of public policy
A.M., Brown University (2004)
Previous appointments at the New England Board of Higher Education

Specializations include leadership and higher education policy

JENNIFER SLATTERY-BOWNDS, Manager for career and employment development and adjunct lecturer of public policy
M.A., State University of New York at Brockport (2000)
Previous appointments at the University of Rochester and the State University of New York at Oswego

Specializations include career development and human resources policy.

KATHRYN SPOEHR, Professor of Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences and Public Policy. Ph.D., Stanford University.

Specializations in human reasoning problem-solving, learning from computerbased systems, and higher education policy and strategy. Current research includes the cognitive principles underlying optimal design for and use of computer-based learning environments, human memory and problem-solving, and policy research on (1) the impact of performance budgeting/ funding on institutional performance; (2) the development of new institutional strategies in the face of policy changes, and (3) the evolving role of private institutions in the changing higher education landscape.

JOHN H. TYLER, Associate professor of education, economics, and public policy Ed.D., Harvard University (1998)
Previous appointments at Harvard University, St. Andrews Episcopal School, and All-Saints Episcopal School

Specializations in education-related program evaluation; the relationships between education, skills, and labor market outcomes; and the role of education in a changing U.S. economy.

MELANIE WASSERMAN , Postdoctoral research associate in public
policy
Ph.D., University of North Carolina (2004)

Specializations include preventive health services, immigrant access to health care, and women and health care.

DARRELL M. WEST, Happy and John Hazen White Professor
of Public Policy, professor of political science, and director of the Taubman Center Ph.D., Indiana University (1981)
Previous appointments at the Brookings Institution and the University of
Pennsylvania

Specializations in technology policy, elections, and mass media. He is the author of 13 books, including Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance (Princeton University Press, 2005), Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2005), and The Rise and Fall of the Media Establishment (Bedford / St. Martin’s Press, 2001). His coauthored book, Cross Talk: Citizens, Candidates and the Media in a Presidential Campaign (University of Chicago 1996) , received the American Political Science Association’s Doris Graber Award for Best Book in Political Communications.

KEN WONG, Walter and Lenore Annenberg Chair for Education Policy and professor of education and public policy Ph.D., University of Chicago (1983)
Previous appointments at Vanderbilt University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Oregon

Specialization in education policy, school choice, and federalism. His current research focuses on school choice, competition, and student achievement. He is the author of a number of books, including Funding Public Schools; Money, Politics, and Law; City Choices; and When Federalism Works.