Schar Faculty

J. Luis Rodriguez

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 20:23:00 +0000

J. Luis Rodriguez Andrew J Schappert Tue, 07/18/2023 - 16:23

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

Biography

J. Luis Rodriguez is an assistant professor of international security and law at ��AV’s Schar School for Policy and Government. He is an affiliate at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.

Rodriguez studies how Global South actors navigate inequalities in international orders. He uses a mix of qualitative methods to analyze how Global South actors attempt to level the playing field in global governance. His research centers on international security, focusing on the Global South’s approaches during nuclear, humanitarian, and emerging technologies governance negotiations.

His work has been published in International Affairs, the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Third World Quarterly, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Washington Post, War on the Rocks, and the North American Congress on Latin America, among other outlets.

Rodriguez holds a PhD and an MA in political science from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in international relations from El Colegio de Mexico. He was a junior advisor to the Mexican Vice-Minister for Latin American Affairs before joining the PhD program at Hopkins.

Areas of Research

Global South
Global Governance and International Order
International Security
International Law
Nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, deterrence, and disarmament
Humanitarian crises, interventions, and law
Cyber governance and emerging technologies

David Brunori

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 17 May 2022 15:57:12 +0000

David Brunori Andrew J Schappert Tue, 05/17/2022 - 11:57

Visiting Professor of Public Policy

Contact Information

dbrunor@gmu.edu

Biography

David Brunori is a nationally known expert in state and local public finance and tax policy. He has been a leader in the state and local tax field for more than 30 years as a lawyer, writer, and teacher. He was elected a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration and is a fellow at the American College of Tax Counsel. He currently serves as Senior Fellow at the D.C. Policy Center.

He is currently a senior director at RSM US, LLP, where he helps leads the firm’s state tax policy and controversy practices. He is also a contributing editor at Law360 Tax Authority where he writes a weekly column on state and local tax policy. Brunori began his career with the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice. He went on to work for two national law firms. He also served as an executive at an international tax publishing company.

Brunori comes to the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV after having served as a research professor of public policy at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University for 25 years. He also taught at GWU’s law school during that time. Over his academic career, he has taught state and local public finance, state regulatory policy, state tax law, federalism, administrative law, and federal budget policy.

A prolific writer and speaker, Brunori has written or edited nine books and more than 1,500 articles. He has given more than 200 speeches before business, government, and academic groups about tax and budget policy. His public outreach has led to his participation in 21 state tax reform commissions, including being a member of the District of Columbia Tax Revision Commission in 2014.

Brunori received a BA and MA from the George Washington University and a MPPM and JD from the University of Pittsburgh.

Kendra Clark

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 14:46:28 +0000

Kendra Clark Andrew J Schappert Fri, 10/15/2021 - 10:46

Research Assistant Professor

Contact Information

kclark45@gmu.edu

Biography

View CV

New Democracy Lab fosters networking, growth for first-year students

Mariam Aburdeineh — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 16:17:13 +0000

New Democracy Lab fosters networking, growth for first-year students Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 10/05/2021 - 12:17

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Peter Mandaville

Mason President Gregory Washington speaks to freshmen from the Schar School's new Learning Community, Democracy Lab, about how anti-racism and inclusive excellence relate to the broader challenge of democracy in America. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

With thousands of people and countless opportunities, there’s a lot to take in at Virginia’s largest public research university. To help ��AV students find community and boost their on-campus experience, Housing and Residence Life created Learning Communities (LC), where students with common interests live and learn together during the academic year.

Democracy Lab is one of the newest LCs. More than 60 freshmen from the Schar School of Policy and Government are enrolled for its inaugural year.

Peter Mandaville. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

“[LCs] allow students to immediately have a network of peers and friends with common interests that can help them to feel a greater source of community,” said Peter Mandaville, Democracy Lab’s faculty director. “In some aspects, it makes a large university have the feel of a small liberal arts college.”

Mandaville said the lab’s name comes from the idea that democracy in America continues to be an ongoing experiment.

“Democracy is facing a whole set of challenges that we, as a nation, need to work through,” he said, mentioning issues like the effects of misinformation and social media, racism, socioeconomic inequality and political polarization. “This is a space where students can explore and talk about those issues.”

Democracy Lab students are enrolled in an Introduction to Democracy course. While the lab’s activities don’t formally follow the syllabus, students explore how larger philosophical questions discussed in the classroom relate to real-world challenges.

“Being in an LC with other people who share the same interests, goals and passions that I do has helped me grow as a person,” said Aarush Sivaram Jambunathan, a freshman studying government and international politics. “Everyone has a wide variety of viewpoints, but is respectful of [differing] views, and I truly feel the connections I’ve made here will last for the rest of my life.”

The experience can be transformational, said Gretchen Curry, the Schar School’s undergraduate programs manager and Democracy Lab co-coordinator.

“[LCs] allow students to have that one-on-one with faculty and staff, but also develop students’ personal interests,” she said. “Students enhance their academic experience, and grow as humans in the process.”

The lab’s fall semester focuses on major issues and debates, Mandaville said, while the spring semester shifts to what can be done about those issues and project-oriented work.

Students also hear from high-profile guests in the Washington, D.C., area and distinguished faculty.

The group’s inaugural event took place in August, with Mason President Gregory Washington speaking about how anti-racism and inclusive excellence are integral to democracy.

The lab connects students to opportunities.

“We want to help [students] get a better sense of the wide range of resources and expertise present in our faculty, and help them feel like they’re citizens of the school,” Mandaville said, mentioning the Schar School’s 90 full-time faculty.

Curry said the role of LCs is especially important in 2021.

“We’re offering this intentional experience for students when they’re coming off of a year and a half of a pandemic,” she said. “I’m hopeful and excited this is going to be an opportunity for them to really connect with each other and feel they have a place personally and professionally.”

A freshman from Democracy Lab engages in a discussion about how anti-racism and inclusive excellence relate to the broader challenge of democracy in America. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Topics

Campus News

Students

Schar School

Schar School of Policy and Government

Government and International Politics

LLC

Schar Faculty

Housing and Residence Life

Schar School News October 2021

Schar School BA in Government and International Politics

Democracy Lab

Democracy Lab Learning Community

Michael K. Fauntroy

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 15:47:31 +0000

Michael K. Fauntroy Andrew J Schappert Mon, 08/16/2021 - 11:47

Associate Professor
Founding Director, Race, Politics, and Poilcy Center

Contact Information

fauntroy@gmu.edu
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Room 615
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
MSN: 3B1

Biography

Michael K. Fauntroy is an associate professor of policy and government and the founding director of the Race, Politics, and Policy Center at ��AV. He began his second stint at Mason in 2021 after eight years on the political science department faculty at Howard University, where he also served as acting director of the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center. He previously served on the Mason faculty from 2002-13.

Prior to joining the faculty at Mason, he was an analyst in American national government at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). At CRS, he provided research and consultations for members and committees of Congress. He also served as a civil rights analyst at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where he conducted research on voting rights, fair housing, and education policy.

Fauntroy is the author of two books. Republicans and the Black Vote, which analyzed the relationship between African American voters and the Republican Party. The book was a 2007 Foreword Magazine book of the year finalist in political science. He also authored Home Rule or House Rule? Congress and the Erosion of Local Governance in the District of Columbia. A third book, More Than Just Partisanship: Conservatism and Black Voter Suppression, is under contract with New York University Press. He has also published chapters in edited volumes and academic journals at the intersection of race and politics.

His essays and commentary have been published in the Huffington Post, the Washington Times, New York Daily News, the Black Commentator, and the Chicago Defender, among others. He is a widely cited scholar, having been quoted in the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, Newsday, USA Today, the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe, among others. He is a regular television, radio, and podcast presence having appeared on virtually every major American national broadcast network. He is also an in-demand analyst on local television and radio outlets. He currently serves as U.S. politics analyst for CTV News in Canada and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

Fauntroy earned a BA in political science from Hampton University, and a master's in public administration and a PhD in political science from Howard University.

View Michael K. Fauntroy's CV

Areas of Research

African American Political Behavior
Political Parties
Social Policy
The Presidency
U.S. Politics and Legal Studies
Voting Rights Policy

David Ramadan

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 21:48:53 +0000

David Ramadan Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/08/2021 - 16:48

Professor of Practice
Schar School of Policy and Government

Contact Information

dramada1@gmu.edu

Biography

A seasoned executive and international consultant with more than 25 years of advocacy, business, and government relations experience, David Ramadan served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates (2012-16). His finesse for cultivating relationships and working across the aisle has enabled him to advise political candidates for president, governor, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House.

Ramadan is a 1993 and 1995 alumnus of ��AV and is now a Professor of Practice on the faculty. From 2010 to 2012, he was a member of the ��AV Board of Visitors, appointed by the governor of Virginia.

Ramadan emigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1989 after attending International College in Beirut. He graduated from Mason with a bachelor’s degree in government and politics, and a master’s degree in international trade and transactions. Ramadan completed graduate studies at Oxford University, the American Graduate School of Business in Geneva, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University. He earned a Doctor of Education degree in leadership and learning in organizations at Vanderbilt University.

Ramadan is frequently quoted in national publications such as the New York Times, the Hill, the Washington Post, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Roanoke Times. He also makes frequent appearances on television and radio, including CNN, NPR, France 24, Al Arabiyah, and MTV Lebanon.

William (Bill) Bolling

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 16:21:03 +0000

William (Bill) Bolling Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/08/2021 - 11:21

Visiting Professor

Contact Information

wbolling@gmu.edu
Fairfax Campus, Aquia Building, Room 308
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
MSN: 3F4

Biography

Visiting Professor William Troy Bolling is an American businessman, politician, and educator who served as the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2014. A Republican, he was elected twice to the position. He was the first lieutenant governor in the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve two consecutive terms since Don Beyer (D).

As lieutenant governor, Bolling was responsible for overseeing the state's transportation, education, and health care systems. He also served as the tie-breaking vote in the Virginia State Senate.

In addition to his political and business career, Bolling is also an active philanthropist. He is a board member of several charitable organizations, including the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Ronald Marks

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 18:24:07 +0000

Ronald Marks Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/01/2021 - 13:24

Visiting Professor

Contact Information

rmarks8@gmu.edu

Biography

Ronald “Ron” Marks III is a 38-year veteran of the U.S. Intelligence Community. A former CIA case officer, he was a CIA Senate Liaison and Capitol Hill staffer who has served on a number of advisory groups at the Central Intelligence Agency and in The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Marks was spring 2020 Dole Fellow at the University of Kansas, Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, where he conducted a series of seven seminars looking at the challenges and new developments effecting “Spying in the Cyber Age.”

Appointed a 2021 Term Visiting Professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV, Marks designed a unique course devoted to the crucial intersection of national security policy and advancing technology.

He is also currently president of ZPN Cyber and National Security Strategies where he develops successful strategies for corporations and high net worth individuals seeking successful entry into the federal market place. Marks also acts as ZPN’s chief adviser focusing on these issues for both government and corporate policy makers.

Until 2017, he was the president of Intelligence Enterprises, LLC, a privately held management-consulting partnership focused on investment, mergers and acquisition, cyber security issues, and management strategies for the federal national security marketplace.

Marks was selected to serve (2011-14) as program director for Battelle Memorial Institute’s National Cyber Doctrine Program. In that role, in December 2012, he oversaw the production of “#CyberDoc No-Borders-No Boundaries – A National Doctrine in the Cyber Era” for Potomac Institute Press. He contributed Chapter 13, “Providing for the Common Defense.”

And from 2005-11, he was director of the Washington, D.C., office and senior vice president for government relations of Oxford Analytica, a top five private analytical firm based in Oxford, U.K.

View Ronald Marks' CV

Jonathan L. Gifford

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 22:10:54 +0000

Jonathan L. Gifford Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/04/2021 - 17:10

Professor; Director, Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy

Contact Information

jgifford@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-2275
Fax: 801-749-9198
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Room 527
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
MSN: 3B1

Personal Websites

Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy

Biography

Jonathan L. Gifford is a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV, and the director of the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy.

His primary area of expertise is transportation and public policy, with a particular focus on transportation and infrastructure finance. His recent research investigates transportation finance and the role of public private partnerships.

Gifford's book Flexible Urban Transportation (Pergamon 2003) examines policies to improve the flexibility of urban transportation systems. He has also studied the role of standards in the development and adoption of technology, particularly technological cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries through coalitions and consortia. A case in point is the E-ZPass highway toll tag, now adopted by millions of households in the U.S. Mandatory standards setting processes, which are more common in Europe and Asia, have met with less successful adoption and serious implementation problems.

He has twice chaired committees of the National Academy of Sciences that reviewed the U.S. Department of Transportation standards program for intelligent transportation systems (2002-03 and 2006-07).

Gifford teaches master's classes in transportation policy in the Schar School. He has also taught a course on the interstate highway system as a socio-technical system as part of the Mason's Honors in General Education, which examines the history and development of the interstate highway system, and the role it has played in the development of modern America.

He received a BS in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS and PhD in civil engineering (transportation) at the University of California, Berkeley, with doctoral minors in economics and urban and regional planning. His dissertation examined the history and development of the interstate highway system from its origins in the 1930s through its design and deployment in the 1960s and beyond.

View Jonathan L. Gifford's CV

Areas of Research

Civil Engineering
Development and Delivery
Federalism/State and Local Government
Fiscal Policy and Budgeting
Infrastructure Finance
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs or P3s)
Regional Development
Transportation Policy
Urban Policy

John Gordon IV

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 20:12:11 +0000

John Gordon IV Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/08/2020 - 16:12

Instructional Associate Professor

Contact Information

jgordon1@gmu.edu
john_gordon@rand.org
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall
Phone: 703-413-1100, ext 5269
Fax: 703-413-8111

Biography

After 20 years in the U.S. Army, John Gordon joined the RAND Corporation where he is an adjunct policy researcher. He has led or participated in RAND research projects for the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and Germany.

Gordon received a PhD in public policy from the Schar School of Policy and Government. He teaches graduate-level courses on counterinsurgency and military operations and strategy in the Schar School's international security master’s program.