Political Science Faculty and Staff
Laura Jensen
Associate professor, Center for Public Administration
and Policy
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1996
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1996
Laura S. Jensen is an associate professor with the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs. She joined the Virginia Tech faculty in fall 2006 from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she was Associate Professor of Political Science and a faculty associate of the Center for Public Policy and Administration. Dr. Jensen earned her M.P.A. (1991) and Ph.D. (1996) in Political Science from the University of Connecticut while serving in elected municipal office. She also holds an M.F.A. in Music Composition from Princeton University, and a B.A. in Music from Wellesley College. Her research on U.S. social policy has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Political Science Association. She is also known for her work on government accountability; conditional Federal spending; American political development; and federalism and intergovernmental relations. She (and co- author Sheila Kennedy) won the 2005 award for the best paper on ethics and accountability in the public sector from the University of Pittsburgh's Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, and her research has been supported by the Ford Foundation and the Dirksen Congressional Center. In addition to Patriots, Settlers, and the Origins of American Social Policy (Cambridge, 2003), Dr. Jensen has published book chapters and articles in The Review of Politics, Public Administration Review, P.A. Times, Polity, Studies in American Political Development, Peabody Journal of Education, Law and History Review, and Perspectives on Politics. She serves on the editorial board of Polity and the editorial executive committee of Social Science History.
Email: Laura Jensen