2023 TSPPPA Newsletter

The Trachtenberg Difference: Get a Degree Here, Take It Anywhere

Message from the Director
Spotlights
Alumni Class Notes
Faculty Kudos

Message from the Director

Dear Alumni,

I hope that this coming year brings you joy and renewed hope for the future as we continue to work on making the world a better place.

We have alumni around the world contributing to every aspect of public policy and public administration, bringing their passions to fruition in the government, nonprofit or for-profit sectors. Faculty are helping change policy and practice through their research and service. And we are continuing to provide tools and knowledge helpful in the pursuit of effective policy and management.

There are many ways for you to stay engaged with the Trachtenberg community:

If you haven’t already, please sign up for our monthly “Trachtenberg News” for regular touchpoints, research updates, faculty news, events, and more.
Follow our new Trachtenberg School’s LinkedIn page. Please update the education section in your profile to the Trachtenberg School. For instructions on how to do this, please click here.
Nominate an outstanding alumni for our annual TSPPPA Alumni Awards! Nominations are open through June 30. Be sure to save the date for the TSPPPA Alumni Awards celebration on campus October 18 at 4:30pm. More information will be shared soon.
Please take a minute to fill out this brief form to let us know how you would like to engage with us to forward the School's mission in one or more ways.
Apply to be a capstone client for a great graduate team.
And don’t forget, our alumni have lifelong access to our career services!

With best wishes,

Mary Tschirhart, PhD

TSPPPA Director and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Professor in Public Affairs

Spotlights

TSPPPA was ranked #10 best overall among graduate programs for public affairs by U.S. News and World Report of top programs in the country—up from the 12th slot last year.

Our full rankings are as follows (some are ties) :

#10 Best Overall Public Affairs Program

Specialties:
#6 Homeland Security and Emergency Management
#6 International/Global Policy & Administration
#8 Public Management and Leadership
#10 Health Policy
#10 Public Finance & Budgeting
#10 Urban Policy
#15 Nonprofit Management
#18 Public Policy Analysis
#18 Social Policy

Trachtenberg alum Michael Regan (MPA ‘05) serves as the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In 2021, Regan became the first Black man and second person of color to lead the U.S. EPA. In his role, Regan oversees the management and enforcement of the nation's environmental laws and regulations. In an interview with CBS, Regan discusses the need for updated water infrastructure, which is also on the minds of Trachtenberg Capstone students, who recently worked with the D.C. Department of Energy and National Park Service on “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Broad Branch Stream Restoration Project.” Their project won our first annual Capstone Prize. To learn more about the Trachtenberg Capstone, including becoming a future client, please click here.

Cynthia Pierre (PhD, ‘06), Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and member of the TSPPPA Advisory Council, returned to GW to serve as a Professorial Lecturer where she teaches courses on leadership, intercultural communications, and diversity and inclusion. She is also working on an endowed PhD fellowship for the Trachtenberg School. If you are interested in endowing a fellowship or serving on the Advisory Council, reach out to Sveta Wilkson, Associate Director of Development for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. For more information on teaching at TSPPPA, contact Christopher Carrigan, Associate Director of the Trachtenberg School.

Mark Esper, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times
Michael Harmon, Invincibilis
Jed Kee, Murder at the Powder Magazine
Celeste Murphy-Greene, Environmental Justice and Resiliency in an Age of Uncertainty
Valerie Gipeer, I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope. She discusses the book, written with her daughter, here.

Alumni Class Notes

Virginia Caridad Bezerra De Menezes, MPP '21, has moved to Phoenix, Arizona where she is the Program Manager of Learning and Evaluation at Vitalyst Health Foundation.
Jason Briggs, MPP '13, acting Deputy Director at the Department of State, traveled to Geneva as a delegate at the UN donor conference for Pakistan's devastating flooding. Jason is expecting his first child in March of 2023.
Andres De La Torre Perez, MPP '22, has been at the Government Accountability Office as an analyst on the Health Care team. He's had a great time applying his learned skills from Trachtenberg, there's even a GWU community at GAO!
Spencer Deery, MPA '11, was elected to the Indiana State Senate in his first bid for elected office. Prior to his election, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Mitch Daniels, the Purdue University President and former Indiana Governor.
Alan Gibson, '73, retired in 2013 and hasn't worked since. I did extensive travel during and after work.
Shannon Hayes, MPA '20, started at Rios Partners, a mission-focused consulting firm, in November 2022 and is enjoying her new role after a decade in policy & project management for an education nonprofit.
Andrew Hoffman, MPA '98, is a Command Inspector General in the Department of the Navy. He is responsible for preventing fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption within a Navy component with a specialized mission. Mr. Hoffman lives in Alexandria, VA with his family.
Ryan Levin, MPP '21, has recently been elected to serve as the President of Emory Law's Student Bar Association and as an Executive Managing Editor of the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. Ryan is working this summer at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Alexis Lewis, MPP '22, started a job as a Program Evaluator at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Her MPP concentration was on program evaluation, so she was very happy to start using the skills she learned at GW in her job right away!
Franklin Marks, MAA '70, worked for over 50 years for the Federal Government before retiring last year. He worked mostly for the US Dept. of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency - planning for disasters and doing procurement work.
Kai Martin, MPP '21, recently began her new role as Program Manager at Events DC where she offers grant support to non-profit organizations which provides youth programs in sports and arts. She is one of the newest members of the Trachtenberg School Advisory Council.
Marcus Melton, MPA '99, is a managing director in KPMG's Federal Advisory practice. He and his family live in Poolesville, Maryland.
Andrew Miller, MPA '20, is now professional staff for aviation and space at the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Kellen Moore, MPP '20, lives in DC and am working (mostly from home) in housing finance policy! Safe to say I am doing exactly the kind of work I had hoped for this part of my career.

Henry Moy, MPA '80, retired from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2016 as the Field Supervisor of the New York Office. He subsequently joined the Board of Directors of Woori America Bank, and in 2021, he became an advisor to Amerasia Bank.
Judith Murphy, PhD '12, taught her eight running of Writing for International Affairs for The George Washington University's Elliott School for International Affairs in March. This skills course helps students transition from academic to policy writing.
Justin Naldony, MPA '18, is completing a one-year fellowship at The Fletcher School at Tufts University in the International Security Studies Program. He will start a new position as the Coast Guard Liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives in May.
Anthony Palermo, MPA '93, is the Assistant Director of Community Development for the City of Fort Myers, Florida. He is veteran of 2022's Hurricane Ian and served on the Executive Board of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Victoria Parsons, MPA '17, was honored with an "Up & Comer Award" from South Florida Business & Wealth Magazine in 2022. She serves as Senior Director, Global Public Affairs & Communications at Palm Global Consulting in Miami, Florida.
John Perrino, MPA '20, is a policy analyst at the Stanford Internet Observatory leading policy engagement and communications for online trust and safety issues.
Kathryn (Katie) Godburn Schubert, MPP '10, has served as President & CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research since April 2020.
Robert Silberfarb, MPA '83, was retired from the National Institutes of Health in 2006 and currently living in Silver Spring, MD. He is currently a committee member of his condo association and has been a volunteer at Common Cause.
Sharon Tucker, MPA '99, currently works as an Assistant General Counsel in the General Counsel's Office at the US Dept. Of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Given her MPA from GW, she continues to work in the field of administering grants for the public good.
Omonigho Ufomata, MPA '06, is currently service as Director, State Advocacy at the American Academy of Pediatics.
Hira Usman, MA '21, is currently in Beijing, China and working as an Environment Analyst with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Mary Wong, MPP '20, founded EvaluCraft Global, LLC, which helps organizations engaged in international affairs analyze and evaluate associated policies and programs for effectiveness, impact, output and outcomes.
Rachel Yakobashvili, MPA '22, began working as the Quality Control and Training Manager at Friendship Place. She is helping the organization transition to DHS' Medicaid program for permanent supportive housing in DC.
Abdul Jamil Ziaey, MPP '21, lives in Virginia. He is working as an "Associate Specialist - Project Management" for DAI Global. He serves as part of the management team of DAI's international projects.

Faculty Kudos

The Trachtenberg School welcomed a number of new faculty.

Program Faculty

Dominic Bearfield, Professor of Public Policy & Public Administration

Rachel Emas, Associate Teaching Professor and Co-Director of the Master of Arts in Environmental Resource Policy (MA-ENRP)

Antwan Jones, Professor of Sociology and of Africana Studies

Courtesy Appointments

Costis Toregas, Director, Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute

Aristide J. Collins, Jr., GW VP, Chief of Staff and Secretary of the University

Kudos

Bill Adams has been lecturing/consulting at universities in Brazil, Egypt, and Malaysia, and his chapter "Conducting Semi-Structured Interviews" has now been cited over 2,100 times.
Steve Balla presented his paper, "In the Midnight Hour: Administrative Rulemaking During Presidential Transitions,” at the inaugural DC Public Management Consortium at American University in October 2022. He also co-authored "The Durability of Governance Reform: A Two-wave Audit of Notice and Comment Policymaking in China" in Regulation & Governance; “Lost in the Flood?: Agency Responsiveness to Mass Comment Campaigns in Administrative Rulemaking” in Regulation & Governance; and “Responding to Mass, Computer-Generated, and Malattributed Comments” in Administrative Law Review.
Burt Barnow participated in a Super Session at APPAM on Lessons Learned from SSA Demonstrations in Disability Policy.
Domonic Bearfield co-authored the book, “The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: An Examination of Merit and Representation,” which was selected for the 2023 Section of Public Administration Research (SPAR) Award for Best Book Published in Public Administration during 2021/2022.
Lori Brainard co-authored “How Do Foundations Support (Anti-)Racism? A Critical Race Theory Perspective on Philanthropy and Racial Equity” in Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing.
Leah Brooks, Director of The Center for Washington Area Studies, co-authored the “State of the Capital Region 2022 Report” through the Center for Washington Area Studies. Brooks’ research on rising infrastructure and housing costs was also featured in The Wall Street Journal article, “Why Is U.S. Infrastructure So Costly—and What Can We Do About It?” and the Atlantic's “Why Your House Was So Expensive.”
Stephanie Cellini served as a Senior Consultant to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget in the fall.
Dylan Conger co-authored the paper, “Advanced Placement and Initial College Enrollment: Evidence from an Experiment” in Education Finance and Policy.
Joe Cordes and Susan Dudley, Co-Directors of the Regulatory Studies Center, co-authored Regulatory Compliance Burdens for the GW Regulatory Studies Center with funding from a Pew grant.
Rachel Emas co-authored the article, “Strategies for Introspection and Instruction towards Antiracism in Public Management and Administration,” in the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy.
The late Jerry Ellig, a research professor at the Regulatory Studies Center, was recognized in a memorial conference.
Jasmine M. Johnson, along with TSPPPA faculty Domonic Bearfield, Kathy Newcomer, Sanjay Pandey, Eiko Strader, and Lang (Kate) Yang were published in the Public Administration Review. Johnson also co-authored, “Infusing Public Service Motivation (PSM) Throughout the Employment Relationship: A Review of PSM and the Human Resource Management Process” in International Public Management Journal.
Ivy Ken was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award from the American Sociological Association; Race, Gender and Class Section for her co-authored work with A.S. Helmuth, "Not Additive, Not Defined: Mutual Constitution in Feminist Intersectional Studies" in Feminist Theory. She also recently published with K.S. León: “Regulatory Theater in the Pork Industry: How the Capitalist State Harms Workers, Farmers, and Unions" in Crime, Law, and Social Change.
Peter Linquiti published a book, “Rebooting Policy Analysis: Strengthening the Foundation, Expanding the Scope.”
Anil Nathan participated in the 2022 American Indian Impact Project Summit and Gala’s Educational Equity Panel during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. He also presented a paper to the Eastern Economic Association on the marginal impact of an award dollar last May in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Kathy Newcomer co-published a book with Alumna Allyson Criner Brown, “Engagement for Equitable Outcomes: A Practitioner's Handbook.
Sanjay Pandey received a number of awards, including the H. George Frederickson Award from the Public Management Research Association (PMRA); the Dwight Waldo Award and the Joseph Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award from the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA).
Eiko Strader was awarded a RAND Faculty Leaders Program fellowship for the summer of 2022. She also published the article "Demographics of Transgender People and Transition-Related Healthcare Policies Across the European Union” in the Demography of Transgender, Nonbinary and Gender Minority Populations. Strader was also recognized as the Work + Family Researchers Network's February 2023 Featured Scholar.
Mary Tschirhart concluded a five year research partnership with ServeOhio studying members of state AmeriCorps programs in Ohio. Her former doctoral student, Yinglin Ma, used the data in a dissertation which significantly advances ideas from their first co-authored article, Enhancing Self-Efficacy During Community Service: Factors Influencing AmeriCorps’ Members’ Change in Self-Efficacy in Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
Steven Tuch co-authored the book, “The Fundamentals of Social Research.
Michael Worth, Sanjay Pandey, and co-authors published “Understanding Motivations of Mega-Gift Donors to Higher Education: A Qualitative Study” in Public Administration Review.
Lang (Kate) Yang published the article, “School District Borrowing and Capital Spending: The Effectiveness of State Credit Enhancement” in EdWorkingPapers.