About Us

Faculty and Staff
The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy has a diverse and robust faculty and staff in order to mobilize the center’s mission to provide critical insights on domestic and international challenges through interdisciplinary research, experiential education, and policy engagement.
Faculty
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Dr. Marianne Wanamaker
Executive Director, Professor, Department of Economics
Fields of Interest: Labor Economics and Workforce Development,; Education; American Economic History; and Demography
865-974-0931
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Dr. Krista E. Wiegand
Director, Global Security Program; Professor, Department of Political Science
Fields of Interest: Territorial and Maritime Disputes,; Conflict Resolution/Management; War and Militarized Interstate Disputes; Terrorism and Political Violence; and Bargaining Strategies
865-974-0969
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Dr. Charles B. Sims
Director, Energy and Environmental Policy Program; Associate Professor, Department of Economics
Fields of Interest: Management of Renewable Resources; Coupled Human and Natural Systems; Risk and Uncertainty; Invasive Species; Native Pests; Public Land Management; Optimal Control Theory; Dynamic Programming,; Real Options; and Computable General Equilibrium
865-974-3825
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Dr. Katie A. Cahill
Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives; Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science (adjunct)
Fields of Interest: Public Health; Health Policy; Underserved Communities; Leadership and Democracy
865-974-8681
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Dr. Jonathan Ring
Director, Student Programs; Faculty Fellow, Global Security Program; Lecturer, Department of Political Science
Fields of Interest: International Relations; Comparative Politics; Foreign Policy; Conflict Processes; Transnational Activism; Human Rights; Global Governance; and Norm Diffusion
865-974-8574
Staff
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Dr. William “Bill” Lyons
Director, Public Policy Partnerships; Emeritus Professor, Department of Political Science
865-974-0931
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Dave Smith
Director, External Affairs
865-974-0931
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Amy Smotherman Burgess
Digital Communications Manager
865-974-3955
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Matthew Murray
Senior Research Fellow; Executive Director, Emeritus
Fields of Interest: Public Finance; Public Policy; Economic Development
865-974-6098
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Jeanne Stevens
Research Program Manager
865-974-2572
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Jilleah Welch
Senior Research Associate
Fields of Interest: Public Finance; Economics of Education; Environmental Economics
865-974-8481
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Benjamin Leard
Research Associate
Fields of Interest: Environmental and Energy Economics; Environmental and Natural Resource Management
865-974-1549
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Elis Vllasi
Senior Research Associate
Fields of Interest: Chinese/Russian Influence Operations; Transnational Ethnic Links and their effects on Democratization; and Western Military Intervention and Nation-Building
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Sojeong Lee
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Fields of Interest: Water and Natural Resources; International Conflict; Climate Change and Environmental Issues; Security in East Asia
865-974-0931
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Alecia Evans
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Fields of Interest: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics; Energy Economics; Experimental Economics; Industrial Organization
865-974-0158
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Lindsey Herrell
Student Programs Coordinator
865-974-0942
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