Leadership and Staff

Robert Bifulco, Jr. Associate Dean and Chair
rbifulco@maxwell.syr.edu

He 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.

In addition, he was affiliated with CALDER and Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) at the University of Connecticut. He has been fortunate to have his research supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Connecticut State Department of Education and by the New York State Education Department.

Prior to Syracuse University, he taught at the University of Connecticut where he received the Distinguished Professor award. Dr. Bifulco has taught courses on public budgeting, state and local finance, economic analysis, education policy, research methods, quantitative analysis, and program evaluation.

His research focuses on the evaluation of educational policies and programs generally, with specific interests in the interactions of school segregation, school policies, and student outcomes. He has also conducted research on the measurement of school performance, educational resource disparities, and peer effects.

He has published articles evaluating whole-school reform, school accountability programs, charter schools, magnet schools and other forms of school choice which have appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Education Finance and Policy, and the American Economic Journal–Economic Policy among others.

He received his PhD and MPA in Public Administration from Syracuse University along with an MA and BA in Philosophy from Rice and Bucknell Universities, respectively.

Stuart Brown
Vice Chair
ssbrown@maxwell.syr.edu

Stuart Brown is Director of the Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) degree program and Vice Chair of the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs (PAIA).

He is a senior research associate of Maxwell’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and directs the Institute’s Mapping Global Insecurity Project. In addition to prior academic positions at Smith College and Georgetown University, he served as desk economist in the European Department of the International Monetary Fund (1993-1995) where he participated in negotiating macroeconomic stabilization programs for transitional economies in Eastern Europe.

He was also chief economist and head of sovereign bond research for Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East for BNP-Paribas and Bank of America in London (1995-2002). He is the founding Director of the Pew Economic Freedom Fellow’s program, a pioneering training program for emerging market leaders.

In his classes and research, Professor Brown specializes in international macroeconomics and international political economy. He is the author of The Future of Global Power: Delusions of Decline, published by Palgrave MacMillan. He is the co-author of Comparing Economic System: A Political-Economic Approach published by Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich and editor of Transnational Transfers and Global Development.

He has also published widely on the transition from socialism to capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Brown is currently completing an inter-disciplinary book project with political scientist Margaret Hermann titled Transnational Crime and Black Spots: Rethinking Sovereignty and the Global Economy, to be published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2018.

Heather M. Macknik
Executive Assistant to the Chair
hmmackni@maxwell.syr.edu

Heather serves as the Department Chair's assistant and helps maintain his schedule. She is responsible for all event planning in the department, including MPA Convocation, MPA Colloquium and IR Orientation. She works closely with the faculty, handling all faculty tenure and promotion procedures.

Macknick is also highly involved as the search administrator in all department faculty searches. Heather processes all course evaluations for the PAIA department. Heather holds a master’s degree in higher education and is fully committed to providing an excellent customer service and learning environment for the students.

Christine Omolino
Director, Admission and Financial Aid
comolino@maxwell.syr.edu

Christine is responsible for marketing, recruitment, admission and financial aid for the MPA and MA IR programs. She has a great deal of experience with the admissions process and enjoys helping others learn how to prepare for and submit a competitive application for graduate study. A graduate of Maxwell’s MPA program herself, she loves working with the next generation of young professionals dedicated to careers in public policy, administration and international affairs and helping them to move forward with their academic and career goals.

Christine also holds an MSW from Syracuse University and a BA from SUNY Potsdam, Christine served a three year term on the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship Program (2011-14), has provided pre-screening assistance for the Civil Society Leadership Awards (CSLA) with the Open Society Foundation, is a frequent "field and admissions expert" for Fulbright/IIE on discussion boards and webinars, and in Fall 2016 she served as a screener/consultant for the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Follow Christine's Admissions Blog for more information on SU, the Maxwell School, the PAIA graduate programs, our admissions process and helpful application tips.

Michael Schneider
Director, Washington Public Diplomacy Program
mischnei@maxwell.syr.edu

Michael Schneider directs the Washington Public Diplomacy Program, which is a spring semester requirement for students enrolled in their second year of the dual MA in International Relations and MS in Public Relations Program, a joint initiative of Syracuse University's Maxwell School and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Dr. Schneider also teaches in our fall semester Global Security & Development Program.

In the 1980s, Dr. Schneider was Deputy Associate and Acting Associate Director of USIA for policy and programs and served as USIA Liaison with the National Security Council. He was Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State in the mid-1990s.

He served as executive secretary of a panel of U.S. and international leaders who examined the Fulbright Exchange Program, and authored the report, Fulbright at Fifty, and a subsequent report to the State Department, Others' Open Doors. Dr. Schneider served as the Director of Maxwell-in-Washington until 2009.

Josh Kennedy
Associate Director, Student Services
jjkenn01@maxwell.syr.edu

As Associate Director, Josh advises all PAIA department students on their academic and professional development while at Maxwell to prepare the next generation of public and international policy and management professionals. Josh holds a masters in international relations from the Maxwell School.

Isaac Olson
Global Programs Coordinator
ioolson@maxwell.syr.edu

Working with MA IR and MPA students, Isaac Olson assists all who are interested in pursuing international opportunities by advising on internships and career tracks, along with effective strategies for success in the global marketplace. He further coordinates MPA capstone projects with students and stakeholders from the local to international levels.

Prior to joining the Maxwell team, Isaac spent nine years living abroad in the Asia Pacific, mainly in Thailand and Korea, gaining first-hand knowledge of global careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Isaac holds a master’s degree from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Megan Begert
Enrollment Manager
msbegert@maxwell.syr.edu

As the Enrollment Manager for PAIA, Megan draws on her passions for public service, intercultural communication, and higher education to coordinate recruitment initiatives for Maxwell’s Master’s and PhD programs. She completed an MPA with Binghamton University in 2015 and began her higher education career as an international recruiter and admissions advisor. Prior to her master’s studies, Megan earned a BA in Anthropology and worked for several years in local and international nonprofit organizations. She studied abroad in India, completed an internship with USAID in Bangladesh, and has traveled to several other countries for work and play.

Senior Student Records Coordinator
paia@maxwell.syr.edu

With the recent departure of Karen Goebel, this position is temporarily vacant.  Our Senior Student Records Coordinator maintains the department database and records for the programs graduate students. They processes applications, coordinates with the EMC and SCIS to see that our international student’s documents are in order for a smooth arrival. This team member helps coordinate the Schedule of Courses and classroom scheduling for all PAIA classes. They also monitor and administers the Math proficiency exam results, Waiver Exams, and Comprehensive exams. The Senior Student Records Coordinator serves as administrative support to the faculty director of the PhD program in Public Administration.

Janis Gray
Senior Student Records Coordinator
jgray@maxwell.syr.edu

Janis serves as our Senior Student Records Coordinator. She is responsible for maintaining the student database and records for all graduate students. She serves as the primary resource for all of our current students, assisting them with the logistics of their programs and especially with the final degree certification process, administrative forms, and academic procedures.

Anastasia Sedykh
Budget Manager
asedykh@maxwell.syr.edu

As budget manager, Anastasia works closely with the Associate Dean and Chair on the overall management of the department's fiscal resources. She keeps track of all the financial transactions for the PAIA Department and processes the authorized payments and reimbursements for faculty, staff and students.

As the department's human resources point of contact, she assists our current and newly hired faculty, staff and students on issues related to payroll. Anastasia was born and raised in Ukraine, holds a bachelor degree in studio art, loves to travel the world, and is able to have conversations in four of the six official languages of the United Nations (English, French. Russian, Spanish - with Ukrainian as a bonus!).

Steven Lux
sjlux@maxwell.syr.edu]
Director, Executive Education

Steven Lux is currently the Director of Executive Education at the Maxwell School, Steve is responsible for overseeing the School’s mid-career graduate degree programs (roughly 150 full and part-time students from thirty countries around the world) and developing and managing various executive management training for both domestic and international audiences. Steve also teaches graduate level courses at the Maxwell School on subjects related to non-governmental organizations and civil society.

Prior to his work with the Maxwell School, Steve spent 12 years designing and managing development programs in South East Asia across a range of topics including health (i.e. family planning, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, nutrition) and rural development (i.e. agricultural production, microcredit, small business development).

Starting as a World Teach volunteer in Thailand in 1991, Steve’s career path allowed him to live and work also in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and to become fluent in Thai and Vietnamese. Steve’s last assignment before returning to Syracuse University full-time in 2004 was as Regional Director of a Thai NGO, the Population and Community Development Association.

Steve also has experience as an information systems analyst while working for Computer Science Corporation (CSC) from 1989 – 1991. Steve is a graduate of Jamesville-Dewitt High School and his wife and three children are residents of DeWitt since 2003. Steven Lux has an AB degree in Economics from Harvard College (1989) and a MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University (1997).

Margaret Lane
Assistant Director, Executive Education
melane02@maxwell.syr.edu

Margaret Lane serves as the Assistant Director of Executive Education Programs and the Director of the Humphrey Fellowship Program. She is the contact for admissions and financial aid for the EMIR in DC.

Denise Mallory Breen
Graduate Student Coordinator, Assistant Program Coordinator
dmbreen@syr.edu

Ryan Williams
rywillia@maxwell.syr.edu ]
Assistant Dean for Washington Programs

Ryan Williams directs the Undergraduate Washington Semester Program as well as all DC-based graduate student programs. He also teaches the Global Policy Seminar & Practicum.

Before coming to Washington, Dr. Williams served as the Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Maxwell's International Relations Program for six years and previously as the Assistant Director at SU Abroad.

In a former life, he worked in investment banking and management consulting on both sides of the Atlantic, in New York and San Francisco, and more extensively in France and Germany. In Europe, Dr. Williams worked on cross-border mergers and acquisitions as well as initial public offerings on the German stock exchange.

He holds a BA in German, French, and International Business from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY as well as a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from Tufts University's Fletcher School in Boston and an MBA from Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) School of Management in Paris. He also completed both an MA and PhD in Political Science at Maxwell.

Dr. Williams' broad academic interests include foreign policy analysis, decision-making, and political psychology. More narrowly, his doctoral research focused on cosmopolitanism, citizenship, and international education.

Margaret Lane
Assistant Director, Executive Education
melane02@maxwell.syr.edu

Margaret Lane serves as the Assistant Director of Executive Education Programs and the Director of the Humphrey Fellowship Program. She is the contact for admissions and financial aid for the EMIR in DC.

Samantha Clemence
Program Coordinator, Washington Programs
saclemen@maxwell.syr.edu

Samantha Clemence is our Washington Program Coordinator. She previously worked as the Global Programs Coordinator in the International Relations Office and subsequently in the Public Administration and International Affairs Department for four years, and she helped to build the DC Program from her perch on campus.

Samantha manages the myriad administrative responsibilities of the Center, including financial and faculty/staff support elements of the office. She also advises students on career and internship opportunities in Washington DC. She helps bridge academic training at Maxwell with the practicalities of preparing for a global career. Samantha holds a BA in English from Hollins College and an MS in Forest and Natural Resource Management from the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Melissa Morton
Program Coordinator
memorton@maxwell.syr.edu

Melissa Morton serves as a part-time Program Coordinator for Maxwell-in-Washington. She helps arrange our program schedule and class meetings, gather and disseminate information for you, as well as other administrative and logistics concerns. Melissa mainly works from home, but you will receive important messages and information from her electronically.

Patricia Tyson
Program Coordinator
patyson@maxwell.syr.edu

Patricia Tyson serves as a part-time Program Coordinator for Maxwell-in-Washington. She helps administer the student apartments as well as a host of other administrative duties. Pat is a native of Washington and worked at the State Department for most of her career. She is a tremendous resource for information about the area, its history, and life in Washington. You will see Pat a couple of evenings per week at CSIS.

Nell S. Bartkowiak
Director, EMPA Online Program
nsbartko@maxwell.syr.edu