Bifulco and Bertini – New Leadership for PAIA Department

Robert Bifulco
Maxwell MPA/PhD
New Associate Dean and Department Chair

When David Van Slyke was named Dean of the Maxwell School in June, the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs had some hefty leadership roles to fill! Especially so, since Professor Renee deNever’s term as Vice Chair of the Department was also coming to an end at the very same time.  Through a very thorough nomination and selection process there emerged unanimous faculty support for our new leadership team.  Our department is pleased to announce that Professors Robert Bifulco and Catherine Bertini have been appointed Chair and Vice Chair  – see official announcement below. We are pleased to usher in this new department leadership at the same time as the school itself is moving heard in new and exciting directions!

Robert Bifulco, Associate Dean and Chair, Public Administration and International Affairs

Robert Bifulco has been named Associate Dean and Chair of Public Administration and International Affairs. He succeeds David M. Van Slyke, who in June was named Dean of the Maxwell School.

Professor Bifulco is an accomplished teacher and scholar, holding appointments as Senior Research Associate with the Center for Policy Research (CPR) and Education Finance and Accountability Program (EFAP) at the Maxwell School, and as co-editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. His research focuses on the evaluation of educational policies and programs, with specific interests in the interactions of school segregation, school policies, and student outcomes. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Education Finance and Policy, and the American Economic Journal-Economic Policy among others. His most recent article “The Effects of School Desegregation on Teenage Fertility” (with Leonard Lopoo and Sun Jung Oh) is forthcoming in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Professor Bifulco earned his MPA (1994) and PhD (2001) from the Maxwell School.

Catherine Bertini named Vice Chair, PAIA

Catherine Bertini, Vice Chair, Public Administration and International Affairs

Catherine Ann Bertini has been selected as the Vice Chair for the Public Administration and International Affairs department. Professor Bertini joined the faculty of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2005. In addition to teaching, she has had a long, distinguished career as a leader in international organization management and reform, humanitarian relief, nutrition policy, food security, and gender. She served for two years as a senior fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (2007-2009), and prior to that served as United Nations Under Secretary-General for Management (2003 – 2005), as Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (1992 – 2002), and as Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services at USDA (1989-92).  Professor Bertini was named the 2003 World Food Prize Laureate for her leadership at WFP in ending famine and decreasing hunger.