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The School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University is pleased to welcome 11 new faculty members. These scholars will focus on a variety of areas within public administration, public policy, government, and justice, law and criminology. They include:

Irene Hyangseon Ahn: Irene is an assistant professor in the Department of Justice, Law, & Criminology. Her research focuses on the experiences of marginalized individuals and groups affected by state violence, with emphasis on issues of law and society, legal mobilizations, global justice, and transitional justice, in East Asia and beyond. This work has been published in the American Journal of Cultural Sociology, and she has received a paper award from the International Conference on Sociology of Korea. The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Institute of Sociology of Academia Sinica, the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, and the Joseph Naiman Fellowship have sponsored Ahn’s scholarship. Before joining American University, she worked for the Korea Chair within the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C. and with the Seoul National University Asia Center in Seoul. Irene received her PhD from the University of California-San Diego in 2024.Ìý

Mandi Bailey: Mandi Bailey, a senior professorial lecturer in SPA’s Department of Government, holds teaching and research interests in American politics/political behavior and identity politics, particularly stereotype activation and the impact of music on attitudes toward minority group members. Previously, Mandi spent 16 years as a professor in the political science department at Valdosta State University; she also served as an assistant professor at AU. She is the author of The Downhome Sound: Diversity and Politics in Americana Music, as well as several articles and book chapters. Bailey is also a recipient of Pi Sigma Alpha’s Best Chapter Advisor award.

Brandyn Churchill: Brandyn is an assistant professor and health economist in SPA’s Department of Public Administration & Policy. His research examines the roles of information and cost in healthcare decision-making, as well as how public policies and social comparisons shape self-image, attitudes toward beauty, and weight-related behaviors. His work has appeared in outlets such as Journal of Health Economics, American Journal of Health Economics, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, among others. Brandyn earned his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2021 and was previously an assistant professor at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.Ìý

Nicole Darnall: Nicole Darnall, the Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability (a joint appointment between SPA and the Kogod School of Business (KSB)), is a professor of public administration. Her research into incentivizing organizations and individuals to adopt sustainable practices will further the work of the School of Public Affairs and its Center for Environmental Policy in the areas of energy, sustainability, and climate policy. An elected fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration, an Abe Fellow, an Economic and Social Research Council and Social Science Research Council Collaborative Visiting Fellow, an Erasmus Mundus International Scholar, and Spanish Ministry of Education International Fellow, Nicole has served as a senior editor of Production and Operations Management and associate editor of Business & Society and Organization and Environment. She is on the editorial review boards of Cambridge University Press, Public Administration Review, Business & Society, Organization & Environment, and Business Strategy and the Environment. She is a founding member of the Group of Organizations and Natural Environment (GRONEN), a network of European and North American scholars focused on organization sustainability. Nicole received her PhD from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Sharan Grewal: Sharan is an assistant professor in SPA’s Department of Government and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His research examines revolutions and democratic transitions, particularly in the Arab world. His first book, Soldiers of Democracy? Military Legacies and the Arab Spring (Oxford University Press, 2023), won the American Political Science Association's Best Book on MENA Politics Award and co-won the Robert Jervis Best International Security Book Award. Sharan’s work has also been published in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, and British Journal of Political Science, among other journals. He received a PhD from Princeton University in 2018, and previously worked as an assistant professor at The College of William & Mary and as a research fellow at Harvard.

Jordan Matsudaira: Jordan joined SPA in January 2024 after serving in the U.S. Department of Education as deputy undersecretary and (inaugural) chief economist. A professor in our Department of Public Administration and Policy, he specializes in education policy, and his research focuses on using government administrative data to understand the causal impact of education and labor market policies and institutions on the economic outcomes of low-income Americans. Jordan earned his PhD in economics and public policy from the University of Michigan, a master's in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a BA from Union College. He was previously a Robert Wood Johnson postdoctoral fellow in health policy research at the University of California-Berkeley.

David Miller: David Miller joins SPA as assistant professor in our Department of Government, where he will teach classes in American politics. His research and teaching interests center on American political institutions, with a focus on the presidency, organized interests, and legislative politics, as well as substantive issues such as representation and inequality in political voice. David's research has appeared in American Political Science Review; Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; Legislative Studies Quarterly; and Presidential Studies Quarterly. ÌýBefore joining SPA, he served as an assistant professor at East Tennessee State University and University of California-Riverside and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University. David earned his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in May 2020.

Rafiuddin Najam: Rafiuddin Najam, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, will teach classes in quantitative methods for public policy analysis. His research interests focus on 1) education and fragility in developing countries, particularly the short- and long-term impacts of violence and shocks on educational and human development outcomes, and 2) assessing the impact of public policies on marginalized communities' access to education and their subsequent academic and non-academic outcomes. Rafi's research has been published in Economics of Education Review, Education Economics, and Defence and Peace Economics. Before joining SPA, he completed a fellowship at the World Bank and earned his PhD from Oregon State University in June 2024.

Sheeling Neo: Sheeling Neo is an assistant professor in SPA’s Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research focuses on identity processes among public employees and the related influence of the bureaucratic and sociopolitical environment, specifically in understanding how different people utilize their identity in the face of challenges or threats. Sheeling received her PhD from Utrecht University School of Governance and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Her work has been featured in Public Administration Review and Public Management Review.Ìý

Stacie St. Louis: Stacie St. Louis joins SPA as an assistant professor in our Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, teaching courses on systems of justice. Her research focuses on the administration of justice, including jails and pretrial detention, case processing and cumulative disadvantage, and public opinion and reform. She is currently examining attitudes toward pretrial justice and the relationship between pretrial detention and sentencing. Her research has been published in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Criminal Justice and Behavior, among other journals. Stacie received her PhD in criminology and justice policy from Northeastern University and was previously an assistant professor at Georgia Southern University.

Tongtong Zhang: Tongtong is an assistant professor in SPA's Department of Government. Her research examines authoritarian institutions (with a focus on participatory institutions and information control) and how behaviors of officials and societal actors are shaped as a result, particularly in China, using qualitative, statistical, and computational methods. Tongtong's work has appeared or is forthcoming in the peer-reviewed journals Comparative Political Studies, Perspectives on Politics, and Political Science Research and Methods. She received the 2023 Best Dissertation Award in the area of information technology and politics (American Political Science Association), 2024 Best Dissertation Award (Western Political Science Association), and the 2023 Best Faculty Poster Award (Society for Political Methodology Summer Meeting). She earned her PhD in political science from Stanford University in 2022.Ìý
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