MPA Affiliated Faculty

Alwan, Layth C.

Ph.D., University of Chicago, Business Administration

Dr. Alwan specializes in operations management, statistical quality control, and forecasting. His research includes developing model-based approaches for purposes of more effective statistical process monitoring. He teaches courses in data analysis, operations management, and quality management. His work has appeared in numerous journals including Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Royal Statistical Society, Communications in Statistics, IIE Transactions, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research, and others. Dr. Alwan has also authored a textbook titled Statistical Process Analysis.

Arnold, Patricia

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, CPA, Business Administration

Dr. Arnold teaches courses in financial accounting, accounting theory, and financial statement analysis. Her research in the area of critical accounting theory focuses on the broader social implications of accounting policy choices and the role accounting plays in social, political, and historical contexts. Dr. Arnold is a member of the American Accounting Association and is active in the Public Interest Section. She has taught health care accounting at the Harvard School of Public Health and lectured on financial accounting at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has numerous articles on the social implications of accounting policy choices in journals including Accounting, Organizations and Society (United Kingdom), Critical Perspectives on Accounting (United States), and the Accounting and Accountability Journal (Australia).

Bohte, John

Ph.D., Texas A&M University, Political Science

Professor Bohte is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and MPA Program Director. His research interests include Education Policy and Organization Theory and his teaching interests include Public Budgeting and Finance, Public Administration, and Public Policy. He is a coauthor (with Kenneth J. Meier and Jeffrey L. Brudney) of Applied Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administration. Selected Publications: “Political Transaction Costs and the Politics of Administrative Design.” The Journal of Politics, “Not with a Bang, But a Whimper: Explaining Organizational Failures.” Administration and Society, March, 2003, 104-121. and “School Bureaucracy and Student Performance at the Local Level.” Public Administration Review, January/February, 2001, 92-99.

Grace L. Chikoto

Ph.D., Public Policy, Georgia State University & Georgia Institute of Technology.
Professor Chikoto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Administration. Her research interests include, (I)NGO-government relations, nonprofit disaster preparedness and general disaster preparedness, and government performance measurement. She has co-authored publications in the Public Administration Review, Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and Nonprofit Management and Leadership journals, as well as contributions in the Comparative Emergency Management Book Project, edited by David McEntire.

Ethridge, Marcus E.

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, Political Science

Professor Ethridge specializes in institutional and legal concerns of public administration and American government. He is the author of Legislative Participation in Implementation, co-editor of Reaching Decisions in Public Policy and Administration, and The Research Experience, and author of articles in The American Journal of Political Science, Polity, American Politics Quarterly, Midwest Review of Public Administration, and Law and Policy Quarterly. His most recent book is The Case for Gridlock: Democracy, Organized Power, and the Legal Foundations of American Government.

Hatch, Dennis R.

M.P.A., Cert. Judicial Administration, University of Southern California

Mr. Hatch is coordinator for programs and internships for the MPA Program. He has held managerial positions in municipal government, most recently as Contract Administrator, City of Milwaukee. Prior to becoming the Program’s Coordinator, Mr. Hatch was active as a government consultant and lobbyist.

Ihrke, Douglas

Ph.D., Northern Illinios University, Political Science

Dr. Ihrke is Professor, Department of Political Science. He specializes in personnel management, organization theory, and municipal management. He is co-author of articles in Public Personnel Management, Public Administration Quarterly, and the Journal of Management History. His current research interests include examining the impact of management innovation and policy board conflict on service delivery at the municipal level, and the role leadership plays in motivating employees at all levels of government.

Lee, Mordecai

Ph.D., Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Political Science

Professor Lee is Professor of Governmental Affairs in UWM’s Division of Outreach and Continuing Education Extension. He also serves as the Coordinator of the statewide UW-Extension Governmental Affairs Consortium (UWEX-GAC). His nonacademic experience includes serving as a legislative assistant to a congressman, Wisconsin State Representative (1977-82), Wisconsin State Senator (1983-89), Commissioner of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District board, and executive director of a non-profit agency. His areas of expertise include public policy and public affairs, state and local government, legislative-administrative relations, and public communications. He has authored or co-authored articles in Public Administration Review, Public Relations Review, Rethinking Schools and Maxwell Review. Books containing his work include Proposition 13 and Its Consequences for Public Management, Wisconsin Government and Politics (4th edition), and Academic Freedom on Trial: 100 Years of Sifting and Winnowing at the University of Wisconsin.

Peracchio, Laura

Ph.D., Northwestern University, Business Administration

Dr. Peracchio specializes in the application of consumer behavior research to marketing issues. Dr. Peracchio serves on the board of directors and marketing advisory committees for the American Cancer Society, Jewish Family services, and the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. She has published her research in the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing Research and has also received research awards from the American Marketing Association, the Marketing Science Institute, and the Journal of Consumer Research.

Ragins, Belle

Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Business Administration

Dr. Ragins teaches, consults, and conducts research on diversity, mentoring, and gender issues in organizations. Her current research examines the development of mentoring relationships and explores how gender and diversity affect mentoring. Dr. Ragins has written more than 70 papers for presentations at national and international conferences and for publication in leading academic journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Applied Psychology and Psychological Bulletin. She is co-author of the book Mentoring and Diversity: An International Perspective. Her research was highlighted in U.S. News and World Report, Barron’s Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Working Woman Magazine, and over 30 newspapers throughout the country.

Rast, Joel

Ph.D., University of Oregon Business, Political Science

Dr. Rast is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science. He is also Director of the Center for Economic Development at UWM. His teaching interests include Urban Development and Redevelopment since World War II, Urban Politics, Environmental Politics, and Intergovernmental Relations. He has selected publications: “Business Leadership on Smart Growth: Lessons from Chicago.” International Journal of Public Administration (forthcoming). “Manufacturing Industrial Decline: The Politics of Economic Change in Chicago, 1955-1998.” Journal of Urban Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation and Environmental Justice: Case Studies. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation, 2000 (co-authored with the Louis Berger Group). Remaking Chicago: The Political Origins of Urban Industrial Change, DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1999.