2026 New Fellow Profiles

The 2026 Class of Academy Fellows:

Whitney Afonso     

Professor         

University of North Carolina

North Carolina

Michelle Amante

Senior Vice President of Government Programs 

Partnership for Public Service              

Virginia

Derrick Anderson  

Vice President              

University of Utah       

Utah

Tanya Ange

County Administrator              

Washington County   

Oregon

Alyssa Ayres

Dean and Professor of History and International Affairs 

The George Washington University        

District of Columbia

Hillary Batjer Johnson         

Hillary Principal & Strategic Advisor              

HBJ Global Solutions, LLC    

California

Melody Bell

Deputy Director           

Department of Energy             

Ohio

Vonda Bell   

Chief Human Capital Officer & Director of Agency Services           

Farm Credit Administration  

Virginia

Gloria Billingsley  

Department Chair      

Jackson State University        

Mississippi

Scott Blackburn    

Senior Partner              

McKinsey & Company             

Maryland

Sharonne Bonardi

Executive Director      

Federation of Tax Administrators             

Maryland

Byron W. Brooks      

County Administrator              

Orange County Government              

Florida

Lonnie Bunch

Secretary of the Smithsonian   

Smithsonian Institute             

Maryland

Kelli Burriesci           

President & Founder 

KAB Consulting            

District of Columbia

Mark Bussow        

Senior Advisor for Government Reform 

United States Congress         

Maryland

Holly Canevari         

Vice President & General Manager           

General Dynamics Information Technology         

Virginia

Jerrell Coggburn  

Department Chair      

North Carolina State University        

North Carolina

Margot Conrad

Senior Director 

The Volcker Alliance  

International

Dr. Ann Cotton       

Executive Director      

University of Baltimore           

Maryland

Phil Dean    

Research Director and Chief Economist       

University of Utah       

Utah

Charlene Dukes      

Co-Principal Investigator       

Prince George's Community College             

Maryland

William (Bill) Gates

Director, Professor of Practice            

ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory          

Arizona

Christy Goldsmith Romero          

Distinguished Visitor from Practice            

Georgetown University Law Center 

Virginia

Robert Gordon       

Director            

University of Georgia 

Georgia

David Guston         

Associate Vice Provost           

Arizona State University         

Arizona

Dustin Haisler         

Chief AI Officer & U.S. General Manager        

Darwin AI         

Texas

Shahidul Hassan   

Professor (Milton and Roslyn Wolf Chair)      

Ohio State University

Ohio

Deneen Hatmaker 

Professor         

University of Connecticut      

Connecticut

Jason Jakubowski  

President & CEO         

Connecticut Foodshare         

Connecticut

Jacqueline Jones     

Deputy Assistant Secretary  

U.S. Department of the Interior              

Maryland

Andrew Kurtzman  

Director            

US Government Accountability Office              

Virginia

Michael Land             

City Manager  

City of Coppell             

Texas

Karen Lee    

Founder and Executive Director            

FedsForward  

Virginia

Keon-Hyung Lee    

School Director           

Florida State University          

Florida

Allison Lerner           

Inspector General      

National Science Foundation     

Maryland

Doug Linkart           

President         

National Civic League             

Colorado

Amy Liu         

Acting CEO and Board Member            

Equal Measure             

Virginia

Michele Mark Levine           

Director, Technical Services 

Government Finance Officers Association

New York

Mercedes Marquez 

President         

Marquez Community Strategy, Inc.  

California

D. Paul Monteiro Jr.             

Vice President              

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)    

Maryland

James Moore III       

Assistant Director (IPA)          

U.S. National Science Foundation     

Virginia

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell 

Executive Director/Program Director            

George Washington University        

Florida

Ghida Neukirch      

City Manager  

City of Highland Park 

Illinois

Sasha O'Connell    

Head of Security Strategy      

CoreWeave     

Maryland

Malcolm Oliver       

Dean   

Thomas Edison State University        

New York

Jaclyn Piatak             

Professor         

University of North Carolina at Charlotte    

North Carolina

Daniel Ragsdale     

Advisor              

CyberStar        

Texas

William Resh             

Professor and Chair        

Georgia State University        

California

Denice Ross 

Director            

Federation of American Scientists         

Virginia

Alka Sapat    

Director (Chair)           

Florida Atlantic University     

Florida

David Shive  

Vice Chair, CIO 

US Executive Office of the President, US General Services Administration         

Maryland

Saba Siddiki 

Professor         

Syracuse University   

New York

Lauren Stocker        

Former Deputy Associate Director            

Office of Management and Budget              

District of Columbia

Joseph Trainor

Dean   

University of Delaware            

Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Van Wagenen

County Executive Officer       

County of Riverside   

California

Ann Veneman           

Board member            

Sun World, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Gallo Center for the Arts, BEAM Circular, and Public Policy Institute of California         

California

Peter Warren          

Senior Advisor              

U.S. House of Representatives          

Virginia

Chuck Wemple         

Chief Operating Officer          

Houston-Galveston Area Council             

Texas

Kevin Werner             

Executive Director      

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab       

Washington

Lee Worsley

Executive Director      

Central Pines Regional Council             

North Carolina

Carey Wright              

State Superintendent              

MD State Department of Education        

Maryland

Hongtao Yi    

Editor

Public Administration Review              

Florida

Eric Zeemering       

Professor and MPA Director

University of Georgia 

Georgia

Teryn Zmuda            

Executive Director      

Harvard University, Bloomberg Center for Cities 

Massachusetts