Doctoral Candidates & Research

Biodefense PhD Candidates

Elise Rowe
Dissertation: The Public Health Ramifications of the US and International Rise of Health Securitization
Chair: Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley

Christopher Quillen
Christopher Quillen' Linkedin page
Dissertation: Pick Your Poison: Explaining Terrorist Selection of Chemical and Biological Agents
Chair: Greg Koblentz

Political Science PhD Candidates

Melissa Bejjani
Dissertation: Thriving War Economies: Implications of Prolonging the Conflict, The Case of Syria
Chair: Bassam Haddad

Timothy Bynion
Timothy Bynion's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Party Foul: The Causes and Consequences of Party Disloyalty in Congress
Chair: Robert McGrath

Matthew Costlow
Dissertation: Shields as Swords? Assessing the Stability of Active Defenses in the Nuclear Era
Chair: Edward Rhodes

Brian Davis
Dissertation: Patron-Client Relations and Democratization in Asia: US Influence on Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines
Chair: Ming Wan

Kyle Fowler
Dissertation: National Champions: Russian Energy Exports as an Instrument of State Power
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

Christine German
Christine German's Website
Dissertation: Extremist Group Ideology’s Impact on Violence
Chair: Eric McGlinchey

Doug Penhallegon
Dissertation: Self-Efficacy, Theories of Poverty, and Critical Pedagogy in the (Re)Design of Job Readiness Training for TANF Recipients
Chair: Mariely Lopez-Santana

James Suits
James Suits' Linkedin page | James Suites' Website
Dissertation: The Impact of Local Health Policies and Fiscal Stresses of Growth
Chair: Hilton Root

Yang Yang
Yang Yang's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Examining Variation in States' Tax Expenditure Budgets
Chair: Robert McGrath

Job Market Candidates

Damon Dade
Damon Dade's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for the Support of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler

Narae Lee
Narae Lee's website
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler

Rich Outzen
Rich Outzen's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Turning the Stripped Screw: Thirty Years of U.S. Coercive Diplomacy
Chair: Peter Mandaville

Public Policy PhD Candidates

Kurt Birson
Dissertation: Bringing Back a Nation: A Human Capital Focus on the Relationship Between Education, Employment, and Migration in Honduras
Chair: Kenneth Reinert,

Heejoo Cheon
Heejoo Cheon's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Mass Mobilization and the Level of Democracy
Chair: Jack A. Goldstone

Patrick Condray
Dissertation: The Maine Event: A Case Study of Ranked Choice Voting and Democracy in the United States
Chair: Jeremy D. Mayer

Damon Dade
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for The Support of Trushworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler

Aaron Finney
Dissertation: Understanding the Digital Divide in U.S. Public Schools: An Case of Federal Technology Subsidies and Access in Virginia
Chair: Connie McNeely

Allison Grayson 
Dissertation: Communicating the Nonprofit Sector to the Federal Policy Arena
Chair: Alan Abramson

Narae Lee
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler

Matthew Lundgren
Dissertation: General Deterrence and Seapower: A case study of Japan, the United States, and the road to World War II
Chair: Michael Hunzeker

Lauren N. McCarthy
Lauren N. McCarthy's website | Lauren N. McCarthy's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Hacking the Bureaucracy: Micro-mobility and the policy process - policy-making in the age of the smart city
Chair: Jonathan Gifford

Neslihan McCorkel
Dissertation: Refugees and their Labor Market Integration: Three Essays on Factors Influencing Employment Outcomes in the Global South
Chair: Kenneth Reinert

Andrew Paterson
Dissertation: The Political Economy of Nuclear Energy: A Risk-based Framework for Policy Implementation
Chair: David Hart

Geoffrey Scott
Dissertation: Institutional Design in Community-Based Natural Resource Management for Wildlife Conservation
Chair: Louise Shelley

Jennifer Smith-Heys
Dissertation: A Roadmap to Reform: Building a Theory of Intelligence Commissions
Chair: Jim Pfiffner

Sasithorn Supakienmongkol
Dissertation: Mismatch Among Thai STEM Certificate Holders: Determinants and Consequences
Chair: David Hart

Joseph Swiecki
Dissertation: A Study on Presidential Approval and the Use of Force
Chair: Colin Dueck

Merve Ulukaya
Merve Ulukaya's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Essays on the Impact of Refugee Flow on Turkey’s Healthcare System and Refugees’ Access to Healthcare
Chair: Jack Goldstone