You are here: American University School of Public Affairs PhD Programs Current Doctoral Students

SPA's PhD curriculum is designed to provide doctoral students with the skills to effect immediate impact.

With expertise spanning public management, global health governance, regulatory policy and more, our PhD candidates bring the research tools and academic rigor to advance scholarship in their respective fields and educate the next generation of public affairs leaders.

Public Administration PhD Students

Kristen Allen

Kristen Allen is a current PhD student in Public Policy and Administration at American University. Her research interests include accountability in higher education, student outcomes in the labor mark

  ka3643a@american.edu

Michele Aquino

Michele is a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration & Policy. He focuses on policy analysis, especially related to the natural environment and climate-related issues. His research cu

  ma6936a@american.edu

Chris Campbell

Chris Campbell is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy and a Research Assistant at the Metropolitan Policy Center. He specializes in urban policy, housing, and community

  cc8353a@american.edu

Tianyu Chen Adjunct Instructor

Tianyu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration & Policy and a fellow at the Center for Data Science of the School of Public Affairs. His research interests include public and non

  tc4634a@american.edu

Georgina Cisneros

Georgina is a current PhD student in Public Policy and Administration at American University. Her research interest include poverty, childhood wellbeing and evaluation of social programs in the contex

  gc6737a@american.edu

Victoria Gibney Adjunct Instructor SPA | Public Administration

Victoria Hunter Gibney is a doctoral candidate and adjunct instructor in American University's Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research interests include material hardship and anti

  vg7211a@american.edu

Kathryn Grossman Adjunct Instructor

Kathryn is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research interests include public and nonprofit management and education policy. She is a qualitative researc

  kg0238a@american.edu

Jaleesa Hall

Jaleesa Hall is a current PhD student in Public Policy and Administration at American University. Her research interests include nonprofit emergence and evolution, organizational governance, and entre

  jh2328a@american.edu

Kathryn Johnson

Kathryn is a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her research interests include environmental, health, and criminal justice policy.

  kj5677a@american.edu

Christopher Johnston

Chris is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. His research focus is on the interface between education policy and labor economics. Before starting his PhD, he worked in

  cj3961a@american.edu

Sangwon Ju

Sangwon Ju is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. His research interests include public management, strategy, organizational theory and behavior

  sj6845a@american.edu

Madeleine Maylath

Madeleine is a doctoral student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Her research focuses on the social safety net in the United States.

  mm3415a@american.edu

Grant Mobley

Grant Mobley (he/him) is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. His research interests include public management, bureaucratic discretion, and orga

  gm8050a@american.edu

William Prince

Will is a doctoral candidate and Charles Levine Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. His research interests include public personnel management, citizen-gove

  wp7117a@american.edu

Tingli Qu

Tingli Qu is a current PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her research interests include public finance, fiscal performance, fiscal transparency

  tq1939a@american.edu

Ashley Scott

Ashley Scott (she/her) is a PhD student in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her research interests include political and civic engagement, the role of communi

  as8619a@american.edu

Ankita Singh

Ankita is a current PhD student in Public Policy and Administration at American University. Her research interests include environmental and social sustainability in the supply chains. She previously

  as5543a@american.edu

Sarah Solomon

Sarah Solomon (she/her) is a Ph.D. student and Charles Levine Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the American University School of Public Affairs. Her re

  ss1612a@american.edu

Corbin Walls

Corbin’s primary research interests are in nonprofit management, broadly defined, and more specifically, in nonprofit finance. He is additionally interested in organizational theory, collaborative gov

  cw3538a@american.edu

Political Science PhD Students

Ali Amini

Ali is a Ph.D. student concentrating in political methodology and the comparative politics of the Middle East. Methodologically, he is interested in causal inference, political data science, and the e

  aa6718a@american.edu

Evyn Anderson

Evyn is a PhD student at American University with a concentration in American Politics.  She is interested in gender equity and specifically how gender equity at home impacts parity in larger social,

  ea9328a@american.edu

Abdullah Atalan

Abdullah is a PhD student at American University. He studies comparative politics, political methodology with concentrations in civil-military relations and regime-types in the Middle East. Abdullah w

  aa7174a@american.edu

Mehmet Yasin Bozkus

Yasin is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government, specializing in comparative politics and political methodology. His research focuses on the politics of nationalism and ethnicity, ethnic conf

  mb1928a@american.edu

Ellen Kamalyan

Ellen Kamalyan is a 3rd year Ph.D. student at American University. She studies Comparative Politics and American Politics with research focuses on religious and ethnic violence and intergroup contact

  ek5837a@american.edu

Aditya Kumar

Aditya is a Doctoral student at the Department of Government and specializes in Comparative Politics and Political Methodology. His primary research interests involve the examining the impact of welfa

  ak4095a@american.edu

Megan Kurten Adjunct Instructor SPA | Government

Megan Kurten is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Government and a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Politics. Her research domain is political violence, particularly the relationships and intera

  mk6179a@american.edu

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer is a PhD student at American University. She studies American politics with a concentration in racial and ethnic politics, specifically the political behavior of Latinos in the United States.

  jl0049a@american.edu

Kristen Munnelly

Kristen is a third year doctoral student in the political science program. She is interested in how philanthropy affects policy in the United States and beyond, as well as media coverage of this and r

  km1567a@american.edu

Zhuoye Pan

Pan is a Ph.D student at American University. She studies American Politics, with an emphasis on Prejudice Reduction and Attitude change and LGBTQ+ public opinion.

  zp9382a@american.edu

Cindy Ragab

Cindy Ragab is a PhD student at American University. She studies comparative politics with a focus on the nexus of governance, the political economy of development, climate and conflict resolution. Ci

  cr8549a@american.edu

Wali Reheman Adjunct Instructor SPA | Finance & Personnel Administration

Wali Reheman is a doctoral student in the Department of Government at American University. He studies comparative politics and political methodology with a concentration on ethnic politics, political

  rw8143a@american.edu

Dakota Strode Adjunct Instructor SPA | Government

Dakota Strode is a PhD candidate studying Political Science at American University. His research in American politics focuses on LGBTQ politics, political behavior, campaigns and elections, and politi

  ds4090a@american.edu

Mark Tenenbaum

Mark is a fifth-year PhD student at American University. He is the Managing Editor of Congress and the Presidency, a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing cutting-edge research on the Legislative

  mt2082a@american.edu

Karl Vonzabern

Karl is a PhD Candidate in Political Science. His research focuses on the intersection of climate change mitigation and the American political economy, particularly how coalition structures within the

  kv2717a@american.edu

Qingya Xu

Rita Qingya Xu is Ph.D. student at American University. She studies Comparative Politics and American Politics with focuses on political communication and public opinions, particularly on social media

  qx4850a@american.edu

Xinyuan Yang

Xinyuan is a PhD student in Political Science. She studies political methodology and comparative politics. Her research interests include using Bayesian method to study public opinion and political be

  xy4066a@american.edu

Justice, Law & Criminology PhD Students

William Arnold Adjunct Instructor SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology

William Arnold is a PhD student in the department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University. He is interested in questions concerning the formation, interpersonal dynamics, and linguistic

  warnold@american.edu

Michael Becker

Michael H. Becker is a doctoral student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in the School of Public Affairs. His research interests include the individual and group correlates of suppor

  mb2236b@american.edu

Elizabeth Carlisle

Elizabeth C. Carlisle is a doctoral student in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology in the School of Public Affairs. In 2020, she received three Bachelor of Arts degrees in Criminology, Law &

  ec3695a@american.edu

Kaitlyn Davisio

Kaitlyn DaVisio is a doctoral student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in the School of Public Affairs. She is also a Research Associate with the Polarization and Extremism Research

  kd0211a@american.edu

Sara Harmouch

Sara Harmouch is a Doctoral Candidate at American University. She is a Lebanese national and defense policy researcher specializing in state and violent non-state actors' behaviors, asymmetric warfare

  sh5958a@american.edu

Melissa Kilmer

Melissa is a Ph.D. student in American University’s Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology. She received her B.A. in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Delaware in 2022, with

  mk2815a@american.edu

Bethany Leap

Bethany Leap is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology, focusing on her research interests of radicalization, extremist behavior, and quantitative methodology. Her curren

  bl9593a@american.edu

Kevin Lopez

Kevin P. Lopez is a doctoral student in the department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in the School of Public Affair. His research interests include the intersection of online behaviors and offline

  kl0539a@american.edu

Marcus McGhee

Mr. McGhee is a Ph.D. student at American University's School of Public Affairs. Professionally, he is a public administrator and Ethics Attorney. His research focuses on qualitative discourse analysi

  mm0963a@american.edu

Ashley Schroeder

Ashley Schroeder is a doctoral student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in the School of Public Affairs.Her research interests include gender based violence, alternative responses to

  as0945a@american.edu

Moriah Sharpe

Moriah Sharpe is a doctoral student in Justice, Law, and Criminology. She is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of North Carolina and

  ms9416a@american.edu

Candace Strickland

Candace M. Strickland is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a doctoral student in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in the School of Public Affairs.Her research interests includ

  cs2037a@american.edu

Alex Swanty

Alex Swanty is a doctoral student in the Justice, Law and Criminology program. She has received her B.A. and M.A. in Criminology/Criminal Justice from the University of Northern Colorado. Her research

  as7515a@american.edu

Jennifer West

JJ West (she/her) is a doctoral student at American University in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology. Her research interests include incels, right-wing extremism, male supremacy, and support

  jwest@american.edu