Jonathan West
BS Political Science
Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate MPA and MPP programs
University of Miami
Jonathan P. West earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University and his B.S. in Political Science from the University of Utah. He is professor of Political Science and Director of the Masters of Public Administration (MPA) and Masters of Public Policy (MPP) programs at the University of Miami.
For 40 years he has directed UM’s graduate MPA program and also heads the newly-launched MPP program. For 23 years served as Chair of Political Science and for a year and a half he was Interim Chair of the Department of International Studies. Professor West’s research interests include public policy and administration, human resource management, productivity, local government and ethics.
He has published nine books, four research monographs, and over 150 articles and book chapters. His most recent books are co-authored by Berman, Bowman and Van Wart, Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes and Problems (6th edition, Sage 2020); co-authored with Bowman, Public Service Ethics: Individual and Institutional Responsibilities (2nd edition, Routledge, 2018); co-authored with Sussman and Daynes, American Politics and the Environment (2nd edition, 2016, SUNY Press); co-authored with Bowman and Beck, Achieving Competencies in Public Service: The Professional Edge (2nd edition, M.E. Sharpe, 2010); co-edited with Bowman, American Public Service: Radical Reform and the Merit System (Taylor & Francis, 2007); and with Berman, The Ethics Edge (2nd edition, International City/County Management Administration, 2006).
For 16 years he was the Managing Editor of Public Integrity, a scholarly journal of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). He is recipient of the national Paul Van Riper Award for Excellence and Service by ASPA, the Manning J. Dauer Award by the Florida Political Science Association, A Lifetime Achievement Award by the ASPA Section on Ethics and Integrity in Government, and a Cornerstone Author Award by Sage Publications.
His previous academic appointments were in the Department of Public Policy, Planning and Administration at the University of Arizona and in the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston. Prior to his academic career he served as a management analysis in the U.S. Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C. doing health-related research. Professor West teaches courses in human resource management, public policy analysis and implementation, productivity improvement in the public and nonprofit sectors, politics and ethics, and ethical issues in government, nonprofits and business.