The LBJ School of Public Affairs announces 16 exceptional new faculty appointments for fall '22 – fall '23. With expertise spanning immigration, voting, public management, national security, survey design and more, these faculty conduct extraordinary research and give students the know-how to change the world.
Sergio Garcia-Rios, Assistant Professor and Associate Director for Research at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy
(Fall '22)
Research Areas: immigration, Latino politics and policy, voter turnout
Teaching Areas: immigration, Latino politics and policy, social science methodology
Sergio Garcia-Rios is a Latino policy expert with a notable body of work in immigration policy and voting rights. This last fall he published a nationwide poll on the 2022 midterms. He will continue to investigate voter turnout, political participation and public opinion, especially among Latino immigrants.
Elizabeth Bell, Assistant Professor
(Fall '23)
Research Areas: public management, higher education policy, social equity
Teaching Areas: public management
Elizabeth Bell’s research seeks to enhance the ability of government to meet equity-enhancing policy goals. Her research examines the equity implications of citizens’ experiences of administrative burdens, bureaucrats’ uses of discretionary power, and the politics of policy design, with a focus on college access and affordability.
UT Provost's Early Career Fellows
These two-year fellows are given the chance to teach, conduct extensive research in high-priority areas of inquiry, and receive professional mentoring.
Ana Luisa Oaxaca Carrasco, Early Career Fellow
(Summer '23)
Research Areas: race and ethnic politics, immigration politics and policy, urban politics
Ana Luisa Oaxaca Carrasco studies how American political institutions shape the representation of immigrant, racial and ethnic constituencies in U.S. municipal government.
Faculty of Practice
Alfonso Rojas-Alvarez
(Fall '22)
Research Areas: public health, urban and environmental economics, data science, quantitative methods
Teaching Areas: quantitative methods, statistics, programming, data science
Alfonso Rojas-Alvarez is a senior data scientist and researcher on the intersection between environmental economics and public health outcomes. Since 2013, he has worked in housing and urban policy, public health, research design and data science at several research centers at UC Berkeley, Harvard University and The University of Texas at Austin.
Lisa Kirsch, Lecturer
(Spring '23)
Research Areas: health policy
Teaching Areas: health policy
Lisa Kirsch is a lecturer at the LBJ School and the senior policy director at Dell Medical School. She conducts health policy research and analysis to support innovations in health care delivery and payment.
Becca North, Lecturer
(Spring '23)
Research Areas: happiness and well-being
Teaching Areas: psychology of public policy
Becca North is a researcher, teacher and writer in the field of psychology. Her research is in the area of happiness and well-being—and more broadly, human flourishing.
Visiting Faculty
Carlos Moreno, Fulbright Visiting Professor
(Spring '23)
Research Areas: local governance, health care policy in Mexico
Teaching Areas: public policy analysis
Carlos Moreno-Jaimes has been a visiting researcher at the Center for US-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego and at the Public Policy and Government Institute at the Universidad de Guadalajara. He specializes in heath-care policy, public spending decentralization and local governance in Mexico, with a particular emphasis on performance evaluation.
Adjunct Faculty
Michael Dennis, Adjunct Professor
(Fall '23)
Research Areas: civilian support in civil wars and insurgencies
Teaching Areas: foreign policy, international security, civil wars and insurgencies
Michael Dennis served as Chief of Intelligence Operations and Chief of Strategic Futures at Army Futures Command (AFC). He has supported policymakers at the executive and congressional-level; senior decision-makers in diplomacy, intelligence, and defense; and deployed units and Special Operations Forces.
Bill Fulton, Adjunct Professor
(Fall '22)
Research Areas: sustainable development, urban policy
Bill Fulton is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on urban planning and land use. His expertise includes transfer of development rights, the role of land use regulation in housing production, the structure and organization of local government, and equitable economic development.
Theresa Gage, Adjunct Professor
(Spring '23)
Teaching Areas: policy communications
Theresa Gage has worked in the electric industry for more than two decades concentrating on communications, policy and government relations. She has worked at the Texas Legislature, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in leadership positions.
Amy Leff, Assistant Adjunct Professor
(Spring '23)
Teaching Areas: policy communications
Amy Leff is a tri-sector leader with diverse experience across the government, nonprofit, and technology sectors. Currently, she leads policy and safety programs at Medely, a tech company connecting healthcare professionals with economic opportunities.
Kimberly Olivares, Adjunct Assistant Professor
(Spring '22)
Teaching Areas: local government, public finance
Kimberly Olivares has a nearly 20-year tenure in local government, currently serving as deputy chief financial officer for the city of Austin, Texas, where she oversees the treasury, strategic facility delivery, economic development financing, and real estate functions.
Becky Pastner, Adjunct Assistant Professor
(Spring '23)
Teaching Areas: philanthropy, social change, leadership
Becky Pastner is a philanthropic and nonprofit advisor with 20+ years of diverse experience in programmatic, operational, and leadership roles across the social sector.
Katharine Teleki, Adjunct Assistant Professor
(Spring '23)
Teaching Areas: policy development (Texas government)
Katharine Teleki has spent most of her professional life working to make Texas institutions more effective and responsive to the stakeholders they serve. She has 16 years of experience evaluating Texas state policy and helping a range of organizations improve their effectiveness.
Madge Vasquez, Adjunct Assistant Professor
(Spring '23)
Teaching Areas: leadership, nonprofits, philanthropy
Madge Vasquez has more than 25+ years of experience in community development, philanthropy, management consulting and the healthcare sector.
Jeff Yorg, Adjunct Assistant Professor
(Spring '23)
Research Areas: public finance, economics, regulatory policy
Teaching Areas: public finance, regulatory policy
Jeffery Yorg has more than 10 years of experience in the public finance arena. Over his career, Mr. Yorg has worked on the credit agency, sell side and buy side of the debt markets focused almost exclusively on municipal securities.