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Amanda Rutherford
IU Bloomington

Amanda Rutherford

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Expert Bio

Amanda Rutherford is an associate professor and the director of the Undergraduate Honors Program in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Bloomington. Her central research interests include political control and performance accountability, bureaucratic careers and executive decision-making, and issues of race, equity and representation in the bureaucracy.

Much of her research is conducted in the context of K-12 and higher education. Most recently, Rutherford received funding to study the role of school resource officers in public schools, the effects of vacancies in U.S. federal agencies on employee job satisfaction, and the structure and effectiveness of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council.

Her work has been published in various journals, including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Public Administration Review and Public Administration. Her most recent book, “Race and Public Administration,” was published by Routledge in 2020.

Rutherford has won numerous honors and awards, including the IU Inclusive Excellence Award (2022); the O’Neill School’s Graduate Teaching Award (2019, 2021) and Leader for the Greater Good Award (2017); the Donald A. Gatzke Dissertation Award (2017); and recognition as an Emerging Education Policy Scholar (2020).

Areas of Expertise

Higher education policy and governance, government vacancies, executive turnover, K-12 school resource officers, public-sector management.