Kaifeng Yang, PhD (Bio)
Dr. Kaifeng Yang is dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University–Newark effective January 1, 2024. He is known internationally as a scholar of government performance management, citizen engagement, public human resource management, and digital governance. He has been a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) since 2012. Dr. Yang earned his PhD from Rutgers SPAA in 2003 and was awarded the 2018 SPAA Alumni Award for Academic Excellence for outstanding contributions to the intellectual, theoretical, and institutional advancement of public administration.
Upon earning his PhD from SPAA in 2003, he joined the faculty of Florida State University’s Askew School of Public Affairs and Policy. At Askew, he earned awards for teaching and research while gaining national and international recognition for his work at the intersection of the effectiveness of government and citizen involvement. Ultimately, he served as director of the school’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) and PhD programs.
Subsequently, he was appointed fean of the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University in China, where he had earned master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration before coming to Rutgers-Newark. At Renmin, he oversaw a school with more than 27 research centers, 90 faculty, 30 staff, and 2,000 students, increasing the size of the undergraduate and graduate student bodies while dramatically increasing research productivity. He helped position the school’s MPA program to become accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), the leading international accreditor in the field, and launch the program into the top ranks in Asia and internationally.
A dedicated and visionary institution builder, he led national initiatives to expand the discipline of public administration in China, serving in leadership roles for the Chinese Ministry of Education’s MPA Education Steering Committee to develop national guidelines for over 300 MPA programs, train faculty members, conduct quality inspections, and facilitate innovation while initiating a national accrediting program modeled on NASPAA.