SPAA Alumni Highlights: Academic Year 2020-2021

FALL 2020 / WINTER 2021

• Dante Arnwine (MPA’15) was named district manager for Community Board 9 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY.
   
• Michael Cerra (MPA’94) was named executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJLM).
   
• Intashan Chowdhury (BA’17, MPA’19) received the 2020 New Professional to Local Government Award from the New Jersey Municipal Management Association (NJMMA).
   
• Patria de Lancer Julnes (PHD'97) was elected as president-elect of the American Society for Public Administration
  (ASPA).
   
• Tia Sherèe Gaynor (MPA’05, PhD'11) proposed and established a Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center (TRHT) at the University of Cincinnati. UC joins over 20 different colleges and universities across the nation that also house the center, including Rutgers SPAA. The TRHT Center was started by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) in hopes to dismantle racism.
   
• Melinda Jenson (MPA'20) received the 2020 Pi Alpha Alpha Masters Manuscript Award from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) for her manuscript, “The Inequitable Burden of Care:
  Measuring the Effects of Informal Eldercare on Women’s Employment in the United States.”
   
• Mirae Kim (PHD’14) joined the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University as an associate professor of nonprofit studies.
   
• Jennifer Madè (BA'18) and Habeebah Yasin (BA'16, MPA'21) were selected as resident reporters by the public radio station WBGO, as part of their community storytelling space for Newark residents to fill critical information gaps.
   
• Erik Cruz Morales (BA'18, MPA'19) joined The Fund for New Jersey as Leonard Lieberman Philanthropy Fellow.
   
• Lauren Bock Mullins (PHD'12) was named an Outstanding Dialogue Winner for the 2021 Administrative Theory & Praxis Outstanding Article Awards.
   
• Philip Nufrio (PHD'98) was asked by the Biden Institute of the University of Delaware to develop policy papers on the topics of “Policies to Restore the Middle Class” and “Balancing Social Equity, Police Reform and Mitigating Alarming
  Homicide Rates in Major American Cities.”
   
• Shilpa Viswanath (PHD'19) received the 2020 Rising Star Award from the American Society for Public Administration's (ASPA) Section for Women in Public Administration (SWPA).
  + Viswanath was named an Outstanding Dialogue Winner for the 2021 Administrative Theory & Praxis Outstanding Article Awards.
   

SPRING / SUMMER 2021

• Amina Bey (MPA’13) was awarded the 2021 "SPAA Community Service Award" for outstanding contributions to the community through time, actions, talents, and dedication.
   
• Chrissy Buteas (MPA'07) was named to NJBIZ’s 2021 Next Generation Leaders list.
   
• De Lacy Davis (MPA’12) was awarded the 2021 "SPAA Distinguished Alumni Award for Practitioner Excellence" for outstanding achievement in public administration and public service through applied practice in the field.
   
• Kenneth Douglas (BA'15, MPA'17) was named Trenton's new fire director.
   
• Tia Sherèe Gaynor (MPA’05, PhD'11) was awarded the 2021 "SPAA Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic Excellence" for outstanding contributions to the intellectual, theoretical, and institutional advancement of public administration.
   
• Vin Gopal (MPA'19) was named to NJBIZ’s 2021 Next Generation Leaders list.
   
• Mirae Kim (PHD’14) and Étienne Charbonneau (PhD'10) received an Honorable Mention from the Review of Public Personnel Administration for their piece "Caught Between Volunteerism and Professionalism: Support by Nonprofit Leaders for the Donative Labor Hypothesis."
   
• Danbee Lee (PhD'20) with M. Michael Kang received a Volcker Junior Scholar Research Grant from the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) for "Bureaucratic Representation, Whistle Blowing Management, and the Roles of Accountability Organizations."
   
• Shantè Palmer (EMPA'14) joined Rutgers-Newark as Vice Chancellor for External and Governmental Relations.
   
• Patricia Teffenhart (EMPA'14) joined the NJ Chamber of Commerce as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.
   
• Chengxin Michael Xu (PhD'19) received a Volcker Junior Scholar Research Grant from the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) for "A Field Experiment on Discrimination against Immigrants in the US Health Care Market."