Christopher A. Simon

Christopher A. Simon received his Ph.D. in political science from Washington State University, Pullman in 1997. Prior to being hired at the University of Nevada, Reno, he was a visiting assistant professor at Oregon State University (his undergraduate alma mater) and also served as adjunct faculty at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. His dissertation research linked structural contingency theory to an analysis of public school administrative expenditures.

His monograph, To Run a School: Administrative Organization and Learning (Praeger, 2001), is a longitudinal analysis of public school organization and performance in 296 school districts in the State of Washington. It was re-published in a Mandarin Chinese edition (Beijing: China Light Industry Press, 2005). Public Policy: Preferences and Outcomes (Pearson/Longman, 2007), is a standard introductory undergraduate textbook in public policy. Also in 2007, Dr. Simon published a monograph entitled Alternative Energy: Political, Economic, and Social Feasibility (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). Co-authored with Nicholas Lovrich and Brent Steel, Dr. Simon recently completed a monograph entitled, State and Local Government: Sustainable Communities of the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

Professor Simon's research work has included the following topics:

  • administrative ethics (with David Nice);
  • civic volunteerism (with Mary Van Verst and Changhua Wang);
  • criminal justice policy (with Jihong Zhao, with Eric Herzik);
  • elementary and secondary education policy;
  • higher education policy (with Gwen Hullman and Sally Morgan);
  • land use policy (with John Dobra);
  • localism and natural resource policymaking (with Brent Steel);
  • military sociology, US and comparative (with Nicholas Lovrich);
  • public personnel diversity issues;
  • religion and politics;
  • renewable energy policy;
  • renewable energy education (with Ted Batchman and Christine Taylor);
  • sustainability and governance (with Nicholas Lovrich and Brent Steel).

His peer reviewed journal publications have appeared in:

Professor Simon teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the following areas: US government and politics, research methods and social science statistics, US public policy, public policy analysis, public policy evaluation techniques, budget theory, organization theory, state and local government, natural resource policy, renewable energy policy, and political philosophy. Professor Simon is also an adjunct faculty member in the Justice Management program, Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies.

Professor Simon was awarded the title of Mentor to Senior Scholar for his work with Christina Kim (summa cum laude, College of Liberal Arts, Winter 2005).

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