Doctoral Candidates & Research
Learn more about our PhD Candidates, including those who are actively searching for new opportunities on the job market.
All of these students have defended a dissertation proposal and advanced to candidacy. Many of our PhD candidates have published in leading journals, presented papers at conferences, and secured fellowships and awards. Feel free to contact the students, their advisors, or the Schar School for additional information.
Biodefense PhD Candidates
Biodefense PhD Candidates
Elise Rowe
Dissertation: The Public Health Ramifications of the US and International Rise of Health Securitization
Chair: Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley
Christopher Quillen
Christopher Quillen' Linkedin page
Dissertation: Pick Your Poison: Explaining Terrorist Selection of Chemical and Biological Agents
Chair: Greg Koblentz
Political Science PhD Candidates
Political Science PhD Candidates
Melissa Bejjani
Dissertation: Thriving War Economies: Implications of Prolonging the Conflict, The Case of Syria
Chair: Bassam Haddad
Timothy Bynion
Timothy Bynion's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Party Foul: The Causes and Consequences of Party Disloyalty in Congress
Chair: Robert McGrath
Matthew Costlow
Dissertation: Shields as Swords? Assessing the Stability of Active Defenses in the Nuclear Era
Chair: Edward Rhodes
Brian Davis
Dissertation: Patron-Client Relations and Democratization in Asia: US Influence on Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines
Chair: Ming Wan
Kyle Fowler
Dissertation: National Champions: Russian Energy Exports as an Instrument of State Power
Chair: Eric McGlinchey
Christine German
Christine German's Website
Dissertation: Extremist Group Ideology’s Impact on Violence
Chair: Eric McGlinchey
Doug Penhallegon
Dissertation: Self-Efficacy, Theories of Poverty, and Critical Pedagogy in the (Re)Design of Job Readiness Training for TANF Recipients
Chair: Mariely Lopez-Santana
James Suits
James Suits' Linkedin page | James Suites' Website
Dissertation: The Impact of Local Health Policies and Fiscal Stresses of Growth
Chair: Hilton Root
Yang Yang
Yang Yang's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Examining Variation in States' Tax Expenditure Budgets
Chair: Robert McGrath
Public Policy PhD Candidates
Job Market Candidates
Damon Dade
Damon Dade's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for the Support of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler
Narae Lee
Narae Lee's website
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler
Rich Outzen
Rich Outzen's LinkedIn page
Job Market Candidate
Dissertation: Turning the Stripped Screw: Thirty Years of U.S. Coercive Diplomacy
Chair: Peter Mandaville
Public Policy PhD Candidates
Kurt Birson
Dissertation: Bringing Back a Nation: A Human Capital Focus on the Relationship Between Education, Employment, and Migration in Honduras
Chair: Kenneth Reinert,
Heejoo Cheon
Heejoo Cheon's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Mass Mobilization and the Level of Democracy
Chair: Jack A. Goldstone
Patrick Condray
Dissertation: The Maine Event: A Case Study of Ranked Choice Voting and Democracy in the United States
Chair: Jeremy D. Mayer
Damon Dade
Dissertation: Ethical and Regulatory Frameworks for The Support of Trushworthy Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Chair: Laurie Schintler
Aaron Finney
Dissertation: Understanding the Digital Divide in U.S. Public Schools: An Case of Federal Technology Subsidies and Access in Virginia
Chair: Connie McNeely
Allison Grayson
Dissertation: Communicating the Nonprofit Sector to the Federal Policy Arena
Chair: Alan Abramson
Narae Lee
Dissertation: Labor Market Policy, Infrastructure, and Jobs in Developing Countries
Chair: Maurice Kugler
Matthew Lundgren
Dissertation: General Deterrence and Seapower: A case study of Japan, the United States, and the road to World War II
Chair: Michael Hunzeker
Lauren N. McCarthy
Lauren N. McCarthy's website | Lauren N. McCarthy's LinkedIn page
Dissertation: Hacking the Bureaucracy: Micro-mobility and the policy process - policy-making in the age of the smart city
Chair: Jonathan Gifford
Andrew Paterson
Dissertation: The Political Economy of Nuclear Energy: A Risk-based Framework for Policy Implementation
Chair: David Hart
Geoffrey Scott
Dissertation: Institutional Design in Community-Based Natural Resource Management for Wildlife Conservation
Chair: Louise Shelley
Jennifer Smith-Heys
Dissertation: A Roadmap to Reform: Building a Theory of Intelligence Commissions
Chair: Jim Pfiffner
Sasithorn Supakienmongkol
Dissertation: Mismatch Among Thai STEM Certificate Holders: Determinants and Consequences
Chair: David Hart
Joseph Swiecki
Dissertation: A Study on Presidential Approval and the Use of Force
Chair: Colin Dueck
Merve Ulukaya
Merve Ulukaya's Linkedin page
Dissertation: Essays on the Impact of Refugee Flow on Turkey’s Healthcare System and Refugees’ Access to Healthcare
Chair: Jack Goldstone