The Baker School and IAC Welcomes Ten New Faculty
KNOXVILLE, TN, August 1 — The Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs (Baker School) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville welcomed 10 experts from across the country on August 1 as it prepares to welcome its inaugural class of undergraduate majors.
The new faculty’s expertise ranges from public administration, political theory, and economics to environmental and energy policy. They include a former member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a Fulbright Professor, and highly sought after researchers.
“The faculty we are building here at the Baker School will not only teach and mentor this country’s next generation of leaders,” states Marianne Wanamaker, dean of the Baker School. “But will advance the cutting-edge research that the school and research centers are already accomplishing.”
These experts accompany a diverse and robust faculty that advances the Baker School’s mission to educate skilled problem solvers and prepare them for public leadership roles, and help our country solve the biggest challenges of our time.
Baker School:
Tara Bryan, associate professor, has expertise in organization theory and behavior, planning and evaluation in public and nonprofit organizations, and the role of philanthropic foundations in building nonprofit capacity. Bryan was previously an associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s School of Public Administration and spent a year as a Visiting Fulbright Professor at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.
Timothy Fitzgerald, visiting associate professor, has expertise in natural resource and environmental economics, with a focus on energy issues. Fitzgerald was Chief International Economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2017-2018 and currently serves on the Energy & Environmental Markets Advisory Committee at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
David Folz, adjunct professor, has expertise in public administration, American politics, and state and local government. Folz is a long-serving member of the UTK faculty with over 40 years of experience. He is a former director of the Master of Public Policy and Administration program and is returning to UT to lend his expertise to the Baker School’s graduate programs.
Jack Mewhirter, associate professor, has expertise in public policy and the study of complex governance systems. Mewhirter previously served as director of Graduate Studies at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Public and International Affairs. In 2021, he received a National Science Foundation grant for his research on Public Health and Civil Rights Trade-Offs During the COVID-19 pandemic.
Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy:
Andrew Balthrop, assistant professor for the Baker School and Haslam College of Business Supply Chain Management. His expertise is in supply chain management and resource economics. Balthrop was previously at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.
Dale Manning, associate professor at the Baker School and the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. His expertise is in natural resource economics, environmental economics, and development economics. Manning was previously an associate professor at Colorado State University’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Institute of American Civics (IAC):
Tiffany Barron, assistant professor, has expertise in political theory, comparative politics, and international relations. Before joining the Baker School faculty, Barron was an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Andy Busch, associate director of the IAC and professor, has expertise in American political institutions, elections, and public policy. Prior to joining UT, Busch was the Rose Institute of State and Local Government director at Claremont McKenna College.
Kody Cooper, associate professor, has expertise in constitutional law, political theory, and American government. Cooper was previously the UC Foundation Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.
David Scott, lecturer, has expertise in American politics, judicial politics, and political theory. Scott has been with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, since 2018 but is new to the Baker School.