Who or what inspired you to enter public service?

I was inspired to enter public service in a couple of ways. One was when 8-year-old Roger walked to school one Tuesday in November in WV and found there was no school. There was an election! I spent the whole day watching people campaign and meeting candidates, and was persuaded to hold a sign for Stuart Caldwell for the Board of Education. Ha. He, many years later, became the lead attorney in a major toxic tort law settlement in my hometown of Nitro, WV. Our whole city received medical monitoring.

Second, as a professor, I took the same route as many do and found myself teaching and doing research on court systems. I decided to engage with the courts, met judges and court administrators, and started attending their conferences. I found pathways for students and a chance for my research and teaching to help improve courts. I later served on a Judicial Merit Selection Committee, Judicial Performance Review committees, and as the Vice Chair of Arizona's Legal Document Preparers Commission. I found I could make a difference even while being a professor and that it opened up pathways for students.

What is your favorite class you have ever taught or taken and why?

The best class that I ever taught was a long time MPA course on Conflict Management in the Public Sector. The course blended learning negotiation and other forms of conflict management (including litigation). It was the theory part and the project I designed that was most fun and interesting. I would teach how conflicts come about and how they can spiral out of control without engagement. That "model" makes me think of the times that we are in where the environment and language of politics is more divisive ...in part...because those somewhere in the middle have left the conversation. Last, it has a project where student groups picked a real world neighborhood or city dispute and analyzed and prepared a way to manage it. Amazing stuff the students brought into class!

What advice would you give to those interested in pursuing public policy or public administration as a career?

That it is among the highest of callings and that the work you do can help change people's lives. One of my best former students was in parks and recreation. He said, for example, that the work he does helps people enjoy their lives and that when a park is built, countless lives are touched for years after he has left this earth. That is impact! I would also advise students to start with their passion and then "find themselves in public service." Not just where you can contribute, but that there are so many jobs hidden under obtuse titles that are exactly what you might love. Look deeply into nonprofits or government agencies for "climate change" OR if in the private sector, find a board or commission and serve!

What area of public policy interests you the most and why?

I think community development. While I spent much of my academic career interested in courts, I see now, by working with students and community partners, that community development involves business, education, housing, public safety, public welfare, real estate, and so much more. Every neighborhood around a main street is shaped by the Main Street and also shapes that main street.

What is your favorite cuisine?

I love biscuits and dumplings. You could put most anything on a biscuit or in a dumpling, and I might like it!

What is your favorite hobby or activity that you enjoy doing in your free time?

I love indie rock, punk, and jazz music. I love to collect records and see live music. I also love craft beer, so those go well together!

Who in your life has been an influential mentor or inspiration for you?

So many, it is hard to choose. So many people have given me important advice that I've learned that we can all be mentors even in 2-5 minute conversations, to what could be a year-long relationship. I get inspired in the moment and over time.

What was your dream job as a child?

I wanted to be an archeologist and then a nuclear physicist. I loved the idea of a discovery and uncovering a piece of art or a new particle, but I then realized that that took years and years and years of time and problem-solving on one problem. That is not who I am. I am stimulated by lots of problems and changes in relationships. Those jobs would not have been a good match for me.