Andrew A. Samwick is the Director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences and a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2003 and 2004, he served as chief economist on the staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Since joining the Dartmouth faculty in 1994, his scholarly work has covered a range of topics, including pensions, saving, taxation, portfolio choice, and executive compensation. Professor Samwick has been published in American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Finance, Journal of Public Economics, and a number of specialized journals and conference volumes. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He blogs about economics and current events at www.capitalgainsandgames.com. Professor Samwick's academic web page.
The mission of the Administrative Services team is to facilitate the work of the Center through financial management of the Center’s resources, developing and managing a consistent and effective communications strategy, providing an effective approach to information management and the use of technology, overseeing the Center’s development efforts, and managing the Center’s space and facilities.
Patricia Erwin-Ploog is the Associate Director for Administration and External Affairs at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She has held management positions at Dartmouth College, the University of Virginia, and in private industry. She regularly teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in knowledge management, organizational learning, and critical thinking. Ms. Erwin holds a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from Indiana University, and a Masters Degree in Internet Strategies Management from Marlboro College. Her primary interests are in how organizations leverage what they know to push a discipline or area of knowledge forward, the role management of information plays in the research process, and how organizational structure enhances or impedes the flow of information.
Robin T. Donovan is the Office Manager for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Prior to joining the staff at the Center, she was the departmental administrator for the Department of Classics and the Program in Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Before coming to the College she managed the marketing and inventory for NT Ferro Jewelers in Woodstock, V.T. She is a graduate of Hanover High School and holds a B.S. in Marketing from Franklin Peirce College where she graduated cum laude. She also holds an Associates Degree in Sales and Marketing Management from Hesser College, where she graduated magna cum laude and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
Dianna Ulm is the Financial Coordinator for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Prior to coming to the Rockefeller Center in 2008 she was in budget administration for the department of Community and Family Medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School. Originally from Savannah, GA. Dianna worked as the controller for a property development group that specialized in the adaptive restoration in Savannah’s Historic Landmark District. She also worked in the Executive Office of the Savannah College of Art and Design. In an effort to seek opportunities in an academic setting that combined a sense of advocacy and business; she relocated to the Upper Valley in 2007. Dianna holds a B.A. from the Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA.
The Curricular and Research area manages the curricular activities at the Center. These include the Public Policy Minor, Policy Research Shop, Dartmouth-Keble Exchange, and Faculty Seminars.
Ronald G. Shaiko is a Professor, Senior Fellow and the Associate Director for Curricular and Research Programs at The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. In November of 2007, he received the Linda '82 and Paul Gridley Faculty Fellow Award from the Dean of the College; the award recognizes exemplary faculty involvement outside of the classroom. Prior to coming to Dartmouth, Shaiko was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Politics in the American Studies Center at Warsaw University in Poland during the 2000-2001 academic year. Throughout the decade of the 1990s, Shaiko taught at American University, where he founded and served as the academic director of the Lobbying Institute. During his 10 years at American, Shaiko served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1993-1994 and as a Democracy Fellow at the United States Agency for International Development in 1998-1999.
Jane DaSilva Jane DaSilva is the Program Administrator for Curricular and Research for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She manages the Public Policy Minor, the Policy Research Shop, the Dartmouth-Oxford Exchange (Keble College), the Senior Honors Thesis Grants, the Classroom Enhancement Grants and Faculty Workshops. She has worked at the Rockefeller Center for over two years, coming from a six year stint at Tele Atlas in Lebanon, NH, where she worked in the Sales and Marketing Department. Prior to Tele Atlas, Jane worked 13 years in the Controller’s Office at Dartmouth College, bringing a broad background to her work here at the Rockefeller Center. Jane is originally from the Midwest and has lived in Louisiana for a time. Drawn by her sister, as well as the music and culture, the Upper Valley has been her home now for twenty-one years.
David Glick is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Previously, he was a graduate student in the Department of Politics at Princeton University (Ph.D. expected, November 2009). His dissertation "Learning from Others to Make Sense of the Law: Legal Response Policy Making in Higher Education," combines a formal model with original survey and interview data. He analyzes how those affected by legal changes decide how to respond to them. He focuses on how they learn from others, and how responses to the law are systematically interdependent. His research and teaching interests include political institutions, learning and decision making, law, regulation, research methods, and education. He is the author of "Strategic Retreat and the Gold Clause Cases," which won the APSA's Law and Courts section's CQ Press award. The article was recently published in the Journal of Politics (July 2009). Professor Glick graduated from Williams College with a B.A. and worked as a consultant for the Monitor Group in Cambridge Massachusetts before graduate school. Professor Glick's academic web page.
Serena Laws is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She received her B.A. from Amherst College, and did her graduate training in Political Science at the University of Minnesota (Ph.D. expected 2009). Her dissertation, “What is Owed: Debt, Bankruptcy, and American Citizenship,” examines how the rise of consumer debt in the United States has been historically linked to an ever changing meaning of American Citizenship. Given this shift, the institution of bankruptcy has become part of the American social safety net, acting as a form of relief for those in extreme debt. Before coming to Dartmouth, Serena taught courses in law and public policy at St. Olaf College and Macalester College. Professor Laws' research has been supported by the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy Grant in 2007 and through a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship and Thesis Research Grant through the University of Minnesota.
The Student and Public Programs area manages the co-curricular activities at the Center. These include Student Organizations, Internships, Civic Skills Training, Rocky Leadership Fellows Program, and Public Programs.
Sadhana Hall is the Associate Director for Student and Public Programs at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She has over 20 years of experience in health and development including strategic planning, staff and program management, financial planning, program development, community needs assessment, implementation, evaluation, and customer relations.Sadhana has developed programs targeted toward addressing public policy issues and has designed, developed, implemented, monitored, evaluated, and managed community development programs in Tuvalu, Bhutan, and the Caucasus. Her experience also includes managing primary health care programs for the state of New Hampshire. She has directed three annual conferences for a nonprofit organization with 1,500 participants representing 80 countries and served as a liaison for the Peace Corps volunteers program in the Pacific. Hall holds a B.S. from the University of Delhi, India (1978); an M.A. from the University of Rajasthan, India (1980); and an M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health (1986).
Sarah Morgan is the Coordinator of Public and Special Events for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She manages all details associated with the visit of public lecturers to the Rockefeller Center and their interaction with students and faculty. Before coming to the Center in 2005, she worked for two years at the Tuck School of Business as a faculty academic assistant and also assisted the Executive Education Department with special projects and custom programs. In her earlier career, she worked as a youth pastor; an operations manager and marketing coordinator in the museum and entertainment industry; in elementary schools as a paraprofessional, and in the hospitality industry. She holds a B.A. in German from California State University in Long Beach. She lived throughout the United States and Europe and speaks German and French.
Karen Parker is the Administrative Assistant for Student and Public Programs at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She manages discussion group leaders; handles logistics for the Rockefeller Leadership Fellows and the Management and Leadership Development Program; and organizes student events for the Center. Before joining the Rockefeller team in August 2009, Karen had worked in Pediatrics Administration at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; in the Dartmouth Medical School Dean’s Office and Communications Office; and in Dartmouth College’s Alumni Relations Office. She had also been office manager for T. L. Financial Services of New England in Claremont, N.H., and for the General Practice Program at Vermont Law School. She began her career life as a teacher at Claremont Christian Academy. Karen holds a BS in French from Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. A native and life-long resident of New Hampshire, Karen is active in her church and in local organizations, including 32 years of participating in the Area Choir based in Newport. Karen resides in Claremont with her teacher husband, her teenage daughter, and two cats.
Danielle B. Thompson'97 is the Assistant Director for Student and Public Programs at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Prior to joining the Rockefeller Center team, Danielle worked with public health non-profits in Vermont and New Hampshire as a community coalition coordinator and most recently as an executive director. She has also been an adjunct instructor and coordinator of academic services at the Community College of Vermont, teaching Bioethics and other courses and developing health careers programs. Committed to community activism and leadership development, Danielle has served on the boards of several local, regional and state non-profit organizations devoted to health care access & other public health interests, early childhood care & education, community partnerships and non-profit leadership. A native of northeastern Vermont, Danielle earned a Masters of Science degree in Evaluative Clinical Sciences from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (formerly known as CECS - the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences) in 1998. She lives in Enfield, NH with her husband and three children.
Suzanne Todd is the Training and Internship Coordinator at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. She oversees logistics for Civic Skills Training and administering the Internship and First Year Fellows programs. She worked at The Tuck School of Business as the creative services coordinator and at The Hanover Inn as the reservations manager. Prior to moving to New Hampshire, Suzanne worked for Fidelity Investments in Boston as an event manager for corporate programs and as a senior executive assistant in the President’s Office. Suzanne is a Certified Meeting Professional and has organized events throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. She earned her A.A. from Keene State College. While working full-time, she attended evening classes at Harvard University, where she received a B.A. in Humanities. As a daughter of an Army Officer, Suzanne has lived overseas and in several different states.
