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O’Neill faculty advance scholarship in public management and governance

Claudia N. Avellaneda, Paolo Belardinelli, Aaron Deslatte, Sergio Fernandez, Deanna Malatesta, Jill Nicholson-Crotty, Thomas M. Rabovsky, Adriana Molina-Garzón, Douglas Noonan, Courtney Page-Tan, Sanghee Park, and David Swindell.
Claudia Avellaneda, Paolo Belardinelli, Aaron Deslatte, Sergio Fernandez, Deanna Malatesta, Adriana Molina-Garzón, Jill Nicholson-Crotty, Douglas Noonan, Courtney Page-Tan, Sanghee Park, Thomas Rabovsky, and David Swindell

The Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs continues to define the future of governance through rigorous, high-impact research across its Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses. O’Neill faculty are currently tackling global and local challenges ranging from municipal fiscal health and sustainability to meritocracy in Africa, cultural economics, and the institutional barriers to police reform. This digest summarizes the recent contributions of twelve leading scholars whose work is shaping public management on the global stage.

 

IU Bloomington Faculty

Claudia N. Avellaneda

Professor Avellaneda investigates the "human element" of local governance, specifically how the education, professional experience, and networking of mayors drive municipal performance in developing countries. Her research provides critical insights into how political competition can either enhance or undermine the management-performance link and explores the long-term impacts of decentralization across Latin America.

Paolo Belardinelli

Assistant Professor Belardinelli specializes in behavioral public administration, exploring how cognitive biases—such as loss aversion—shape citizen participation and trust in institutions. His research focuses on the psychology behind participatory budgeting, the nuances of symbolic representation for Latino citizens, and the evolving attitudes of public employees toward telework in a post-pandemic era.

Aaron Deslatte

Associate Professor Deslatte focuses on the intersection of local government management, sustainability, and urban governance. His research explores how institutional design and administrative capacity enable or constrain the ability of municipalities to address complex challenges like climate change and economic resilience. He investigates the role of professional city managers and the behavioral dynamics of local policymaking, providing evidence-based insights into how urban governance can be modernized to better serve diverse communities.

Sergio Fernandez

Professor Fernandez, the inaugural director of the O’Neill Center for Leadership in Public Service, provides essential insights into meritocracy and corruption. His research demonstrates that merit-based appointments significantly improve service delivery in African bureaucracies, while also highlighting the "reputational spillover" of corruption, where unethical behavior by one policy actor erodes trust across the entire administrative system.

Deanna Malatesta

Associate Professor Malatesta’s research addresses the architecture of collaboration, advocating for "relational contracting" as a tool for public value. Her work explores the legal and structural "hold-up" problems that occur when asymmetries in public-private partnerships undermine service delivery, as well as the application of policy models to major social issues like gun policy reform.

Jill Nicholson-Crotty

Professor Nicholson-Crotty is the associate dean of graduate public affairs and policy programs at the O’Neill School. Her research focuses on the systemic barriers to policy reform, specifically within the "policing subsystem." Her research illuminates how institutional actors like police unions impact the adoption of use-of-force reforms and investigates the broader consequences of racial and gender representation in public and nonprofit management.

Thomas M. Rabovsky

Associate Professor Rabovsky specializes in the intersection of accountability and executive decision-making. His research investigates the "glass cliff" phenomenon—where women are disproportionately selected to lead public organizations during times of crisis—and explores the political pressures that drive turnover and vacancies among high-level public CEOs.

IU Indianapolis Faculty

Adriana Molina-Garzón

Assistant Professor Molina-Garzón specializes in sustainable development and environmental governance within rural areas of developing nations. Her research examines how non-governmental actors, such as NGOs and community-based arrangements, influence climate change mitigation and natural resource management across Africa, Central America, and South America.

Douglas Noonan

Professor Noonan investigates the intersection of policy, economics, and cultural affairs, focusing on neighborhood dynamics and urban quality-of-life. His work addresses diverse topics including arts entrepreneurship, green urban revitalization, and the management of environmental risks like air quality and flooding.

Courtney Page-Tan

Assistant Professor Page-Tan researches community resilience, strategic partnerships, and communication technology, with a focus on how social capital and governance systems help communities respond to environmental shocks and long-term stressors. Her work examines how individuals, institutions, and networks prepare for, adapt to, and recover from disruption, advancing more resilient approaches to public affairs and governance. In 2025, she launched the Resilience and Security Lab at the O’Neill School to study the capacity of communities and institutions to withstand and adapt to evolving social, environmental, and security challenges.

Sanghee Park

Associate Professor Park’s research evaluates organizational effectiveness through the lenses of public administration and political science. She focuses on addressing social disparities in administrative outcomes, specifically through diversity and representation initiatives, and investigates the mechanics of cross-sector collaboration and government resource management.

David Swindell

Professor Swindell joined the O’Neill School in 2025 as director of the Public Policy Institute. His research focuses on community and economic development, public financing for sports facilities, and local government workforce and governance issues. Before joining O’Neill, he directed Arizona State University’s Center for Urban Innovation, leading public-sector partnerships and securing more than $20 million in research funding focused on community development and public policy innovation.