Deepak Rajagopal

Deepak Rajagopal is an assistant professor in the Institute of Environment and Sustainability and the Department of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He has a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from University of California, Berkeley and Master of Science degrees in Agricultural and Resource Economics (UC Berkeley), and Mechanical Engineering (University of Maryland, College Park) and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras).

Prior to coming to UCLA, was also a post-doctoral researcher at the Energy Biosciences Institute, UC Berkeley. He was visiting assistant professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana between 2013-2015.

He also three years of experience as a Structural Integrity and Reliability Engineer at United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

His areas of research include Lifecycle assessment, Energy and Agricultural Economics and Policy, Climate Policy, Food-Energy-Water Nexus, Sustainability of Bioenergy systems.

The courses he teaches include Lifecycle assessment, Energy, Environment and Development, and Tools for sustainability assessment.

Mark S. Kaplan

Mark S. Kaplan, Dr.P.H., is a professor of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and is a faculty affiliate at the California Center for Population Research. He received his doctorate in public health from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds master’s degrees in social work and public health with postdoctoral training in preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. His research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations, has focused on using population-wide data to understand suicide risk factors among veterans, seniors, and other vulnerable populations. His other research interests include the social determinants of health and factors associated with thriving in older adulthood.
Dr. Kaplan is the recipient of a Distinguished Investigator Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has contributed to state and federal suicide prevention initiatives. Dr. Kaplan testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging at its hearing on veterans’ health and was a member of the Expert Panel on the VA Blue Ribbon Work Group on Suicide Prevention in the Veteran Population. Notably, he serves as a scientific advisor to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention branch.
Dr. Kaplan recently served as principal investigator on two National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism funded projects: “Acute alcohol use and suicide” and “Economic contraction and alcohol-associated suicides: A multi-level analysis.” He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, many published in high-impact journals. He co-edited the recent special issue of Health and Social Work on gun violence. Dr. Kaplan, a four-time Fulbright awardee, recently received an award from the Fulbright Specialist Program to help faculty at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid maximize the global impact of their research.

Selected Publications

Kaplan, M.S., Mueller-Williams, A.C., Goldman-Mellor, S., & Sakai-Bizmark, R. (2022). Changing Trends in Suicide Mortality and Firearm Involvement Among Black Young Adults in the United States, 1999-2019. Archives of Suicide Research, 1-6.

Fowler, K.A., Kaplan, M.S., Stone, D., Zhou, H., Stevens, M., & Simon, T. (2022). Suicide among males across the lifespan: An analysis of differences by known mental health status. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.106/j.amepre.2022.02.021

Kaplan, M.S., McFarland, B.H., Huguet, N., Conner, K., Caetano, R., Giesbrecht, N., Nolte, N. (2013). Acute Alcohol Intoxication and Suicide: A Gender-Stratified Analysis of the National Violent Death Reporting System. Injury Prevention, 19, 38-43.

Kaplan, M. S., Huguet, N., Orpana, H., Feeny, D., McFarland, B. H., & Ross, N. (2008). Prevalence and factors associated with thriving in older adulthood: a 10-year population-based study. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 63(10), 1097-1104.

Kaplan, M.S., Huguet, N., McFarland, B.H., & Newsom, J.T. (2007). Suicide Among Male Veterans: A Prospective Population-based Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 619-624.

Michelle Dennis

Michelle Dennis participated in the local government public policymaking process in varying roles and policy arenas for 38 years:  Los Angeles County (1965-1978)—urban planner; public welfare budget analyst and director of welfare research; budget analyst in a county central budget agency; contracts administrator for county mental health, alcohol and drug abuse programs; budget director of a county mental health agency; and as a private sector financial consultant to various public agencies (1979-1983 while engaged in a doctoral program at USC).

From May 1983 though June 2003, she was Director of Finance/City Controller for the City of Santa Monica, California.  She retired in July, 2003. She served as president of the League of California Cities Fiscal Officers Department during FY 2000/2001. She was on the Board of Directors of the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (CSMFO), and she is a Past President of the statewide Utility Users Tax Technical Task Force (UUTTTF), an association of 155 California cities and counties, which was formed under the auspices of the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties to provide “best practices” guidance to achieve common and consistent application of the Utility Users Tax throughout the state.  The UUTTTF used a collaborative, consensus-building negotiation process involving broad based participation of private sector utility providers and member public agencies.  Due to this innovation, the UUTTTF was awarded the League of California Cities 2002 Helen Putnam award for excellence in intergovernmental relations and grass roots advocacy.

Michelle studied under Professor A.G. Ramos at the University of Southern California and assisted him in the preparation of his book, The New Science of Organizations: a Reconceptualization of the Wealth of Nations.  She has published in Administration & Society, the National Tax Journal, and most recently (2006) her article “Beyond ‘Root’ and ‘Branch’: Towards a New Science of Policy Making” was published in Brazil in the book Politicas Publicas E Desenvolvimento, Bases epistemologicas e modelos de analise [Public Policy and Development: epistemological grounds and frameworks for analysis]. She has taught public administration at the University of Southern California, the Universidade Federal De Santa Catarina, Brazil, and at the Luskin Public Policy Graduate School at UCLA (2004- 2013).  She has a BA in Political Science (1964) and an MPA (1965) from UCLA, and completed all requirements except dissertation for a doctoral program in Public Administration at the University of Southern California (1981).  She has presented at international Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) conferences, state CSMFO conferences and seminars, and numerous other issue specific conferences.

In 2001, Ms. Dennis was among the first group nationally to receive the Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) certification from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Michelle Dennis is transgender and formerly was Charles M. (Mike) Dennis.

Papers

“The Para-economic Paradigm: Implementation Strategies”
Paper presented at the American Society for Public Administration national conference, March 8 – March 12, Washington DC
Panel: Reconceptualizing Public Administration: Towards a New Paradigm of Public Governance and Societal Inquiry

“Comments of Michelle Dennis Concerning the City of Santa Monica’s Proposed FY 2019-2021 Biennial Budget”
Comments presented at the City of Santa Monica Budget Adoption Public Hearing, June 25, 2019

Michael Lens

Michael Lens is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, and Associate Faculty Director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. Professor Lens’s research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that lead to negative outcomes for low-income families and communities of color. This research involves housing interventions such as subsidies, tenant protections, and production. Professor Lens regularly publishes this work in leading academic journals and his research has won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate.

In ongoing research, Professor Lens is studying the neighborhood context of eviction, the role of charter schools in neighborhood change, and is engaged in multiple projects (with Mike Manville and Paavo Monkkonen) concerning housing supply in California. Lens is also working on a book project that examines fifty years of neighborhood change in Black neighborhoods following the 1968 Fair Housing Act.

Professor Lens’s research has received funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Arnold Foundation, and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, among other sources.

Professor Lens teaches courses on quantitative analysis, poverty and inequality, community development, housing policy, and research methods.

For an appointment, please send an email.

 

SELECTED BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS

It’s Time to End Single-Family Zoning
Journal of the American Planning Association (Forthcoming)
With Michael Manville and Paavo Monkkonen
Download file

Extremely Low-Income Households, Housing Affordability and the Great Recession
Urban Studies 55(8): 1615-1635
Download file

Spatial Job Search, Residential Job Accessibility, and Employment Outcomes for Returning Parolees
Demography 54: 755-800
With Naomi Sugie
Download file

Employment Proximity and Outcomes for Moving to Opportunity Families
Journal of Urban Affairs 39(3): 547-562
With C.J. Gabbe
Download file

Job Accessibility Among Housing Subsidy Recipients
Housing Policy Debate 24(4): 671-691
Best Paper of 2013-14, Housing Policy Debate
Download file

The Impact of Housing Vouchers on Crime in U.S. Cities and Suburbs
Urban Studies 51(6): 1274-1289
Download file 

The Limits of Housing Investment as a Revitalization Tool: Crime in New York City
Journal of the American Planning Association 79(3): 211-221
Best Article of 2014, Journal of the American Planning Association
Download file

Safe, but Could be Safer: Why do Voucher Households Live in Higher Crime Neighborhoods?
Cityscape 15(3): 131-152
Download file

Subsidized Housing and Crime: Theory, Mechanisms, and Evidence
Journal of Planning Literature 28(4): 352-363
Download file

American Murder Mystery Revisited: Do Housing Voucher Households  Cause Crime?
Housing Policy Debate, 22(4): 551-574
Download file

Do Vouchers Help Low-Income Households Live in Safer Neighborhoods? Evidence on the Housing Choice Voucher Program (with Ingrid Gould Ellen and Katherine O’Regan)
2011, Cityscape, 13(3): 135-159
Download file

Kimberly Ling Murtaugh

Kimberly Ling Murtaugh is a lecturer in Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

She received her Ph.D. and M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University in organizational behavior and theory with a special focus on behavioral economics, judgment and decision-making, and her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in the biological basis of behavior with minors in psychology and Spanish. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA, Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Ling Murtaugh’s current research focuses on the use of behavioral economic principles to evoke health behavior change in addiction medicine.

She recently worked with a team creating UN guidelines for methamphetamine use and HIV/AIDS risk worldwide. She has worked in strategy management consulting as well as serving as the Chief Strategy Officer for the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, a national network of researchers and practitioners that develop best practices for treating child trauma.

She is also a founding board member of The Ling Family Foundation.

Larthia Dunham

Larthia R. Dunham is a field educational consultant and has been a faculty member for over twenty one years, teaching gradu-ate level courses in macro social work. He is also affiliated with the University Consortium for Children and Families (UCCF). As part of Larthia’s community engagements, he offers cross-cultural sensitivity workshops and trainings to agencies working with diverse populations. Larthia is a co-founder of Social Workers Beyond Borders, a non-profit international organization, and is also an active member of the National, State, and Local Chapters of the Association of Black Social Workers and a past President of the Association of Black Social Workers of the greater Los Angeles chapter. Larthia’s passion for international social work has led him to develop Summer Immersion Pro-grams where he has taken students to Ethiopia, South Africa, and Ghana.

Rosina Becerra

Professor Becerra’s research focuses on policy issues in health and mental health over the life span, with particular emphasis in social gerontology and child welfare. She is the principal investigator for a State of California Department of Social Services five-year study of welfare reform in California. She also is working on an National Institute of Health/National Institute on Aging four-year panel study of the Mexican American elderly entitled, “Health Care Use and Social Support.” She served as the keynote speaker at a symposium on the urban elderly sponsored by the 1995 White House Conference on Aging.

In her latest book, Social Services and the Ethnic Community, Dr. Becerra documents the relationship between the social work profession and ethnic communities, showing why and how ethnic minority agencies have played a pivotal role in their communities by filling the gaps left by mainstream social service agencies.

In addition to her research and publications, Dr. Becerra has worked as a child therapist, a drug counselor,a psychiatric social worker and a probation officer. Professor Becerra also holds an MBA from Pepperdine and has served on the boards of several social service groups, most recently acting as chair of strategic planning for the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles. She also has advised a wide variety of government agencies and non-profit organizations, including the NIH,
the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, the American Association of Retired People and the American Cancer Society.

In 2002, Professor Becerra was named Associate Vice Chancellor of Faculty Diversity.  She began the new post on July 1, 2002.

Ian W. Holloway

Ian W. Holloway, PhD, LCSW, MPH is a licensed clinical social worker and professor of social welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Professor Holloway’s applied behavioral health research examines the contextual factors that contribute to health disparities among sexual and gender minority populations. He is an expert in social network analysis and is particularly interested in how social media and new technologies can be harnessed for health promotion and disease prevention. Dr. Holloway has been a principal investigator on research studies funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Department of Defense, and the California HIV/AIDS Research Program. He currently directs the Southern California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Center, which brings the most relevant and timely evidence to bear on California’s efforts to develop and maintain efficient, cost-effective, and accessible programs and services to people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Holloway IW, Wu ESC, Gildner J, Fennimore VL, Tan D, Randall D, Frew P. Quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine uptake among men who have sex with men during a meningococcal outbreak in Los Angeles County, California 2016-2017. Public Health Reports. 2018;133(5):559-569. PMCID: PMC6134560

Holloway IW, Bednarczyk R, Fenimore VL, Goldbeck C, Wu ESC, Himmelstein R, Tan D, Randall L, Lutz CS, Frew PM. Factors associated with immunization opinion leadership among men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, California. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018;15(5):939. PMCID: PMC5981978

Holloway IW, Tan D, Gildner JL, Beougher SC, Pulsipher C, Montoya JA, Plant A, Leibowitz A. Facilitators and barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis willingness among young men who have sex with men who use geosocial networking applications in California. AIDS Patient Care and STDs. 2017;31(12): 517-527.

Holloway IW, Traube DE, Schrager SM, Tan D, Dunlap S, et al. Psychological distress, health protection, and sexual practices among young men who have sex with men: Using social action theory to guide HIV prevention efforts. PLOS ONE. 2017:12(9): e0184482.

Holloway IW, Winder TJA, Lea CH, Tan D, Boyd D, Novak D. Technology Use and Preferences for Mobile Phone–Based HIV Prevention and Treatment Among Black Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Exploratory Research. JMIR. 2017;5(4): e46. PMCID: PMC5408136

Holloway IW, Tan D, Dunlap SL, Palmer L, Beougher S, Cederbaum JA. Network support, technology use, depression, and ART adherence among HIV-positive MSM of color. AIDS Care. 2017;10:1-9. PMID: 28488886

Holloway IW, Dougherty R, Gildner J, Beougher S, Pulsipher C, Montoya JA, Plant A, Leibowitz A. PrEP Uptake, Adherence, and Discontinuation among California YMSM Using Geosocial Networking Applications. JAIDS. 2017;74(1):15-20. PMCID: PMC5140696

Holloway IW. Substance Use Homophily Among Geosocial Networking Application Using Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men. Arch Sex Behav. 2015;44(7):1799-1811. PMCID: PMC4574511

Holloway IW, Pulsipher C, Gibbs J, Barman-Adhikari A, Rice E. Network influences on the sexual risk behaviors of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men using geosocial networking applications. AIDS Behav. 2015;19(Suppl 2):112-122. doi: 10.1007/s10461-014-0989-3. PMCID: 25572832.

Randall Akee

Randall Akee is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Public Policy and American Indian Studies. He is also Chair of the America Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program. He completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in June 2006. Prior to his doctoral studies, Dr. Akee earned a Master’s degree in International and Development Economics at Yale University. He also spent several years working for the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs Economic Development Division.

Dr. Akee is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Labor Studies and the Children’s Groups. He is also a research fellow at the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), a faculty affiliate at the UCLA California Center for Population Research (CCPR) at UCLA and a faculty affiliate at UC Berkelely Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA). His main research interests are Labor Economics, Economic Development and Migration.

Previous research has focused on the determinants of migration and human trafficking, the effect of changes in household income on educational attainment, the effect of political institutions on economic development and the role of property institutions on investment decisions. Current research focuses on income inequality and immobility by race and ethnicity in the US. Dr. Akee has worked on several American Indian reservations, Canadian First Nations, and Pacific Island nations in addition to working in various Native Hawaiian communities.

From August 2006 until August 2009 he was a Research Associate at IZA, where he also served as Deputy Program Director for Employment and Development. Prior to UCLA (2009-2012), he was an Assistant Professor at Tufts University and spent AY 2011-2012 at the Center for Labor Economics at University of California, Berkeley.

In June 2013 he was named to the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations.

Google Scholar Citations

Published and Forthcoming Papers:

Estimating Institutionalization and Homelessness for Status First Nations in Canada: A Method and Implications,” forthcoming in International Indigenous Policy Journal. (with Donna Feir)

“Socioeconomic Outcomes for Indigenous Students attending a High Performing School” forthcoming at Journal of American Indian Education.

How Does Household Income Affect Child Personality Traits and Behaviors?” (with E. Simeonova, J. Costello, and B. Copeland) American Economic Review, 108(3), 775-827.

“The Role of Race, Ethnicity and Tribal Enrollment on Asset Accumulation: An Examination of American Indian Tribal Nations”. (with Sue K. Stockly, William Darity Jr, Darrick Hamilton, and Paul Ong), forthcoming in Ethnic and Racial Studies.

“Critical Junctures and Economic Development —  Evidence from the Adoption of Constitutions Among American Indian Nations.” (with Miriam Jorgensen and Uwe Sunde), Journal of Comparative Economics, 2015, Volume 43, pp. 844-861.

“The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and Its Effects on American Indian Economic Development” (with Katherine Spilde and Jonathan Taylor) Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2015, Volume 29, No. 3, pp. 185-208.
Press: American Economics Association

“Social and Economic Changes on American Indian Reservations in California: an Examination of Twenty Years of Tribal Government Gaming” (with Katherine Spilde and Jonathan Taylor) UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal, 2014, Volume 18, No. 2.

Investigating the Effects of Furloughing Public School Teachers on Juvenile Crime in Hawaii” (with T. Halliday and S. Kwak), Economics of Education Review, Volume 42, 2014, pp. 1-11.
Press: KITV NewsHawaii News NowHonolulu Star AdvertiserWest Hawaii Today

“Property Institutions and Business Investment on American Indian Reservations” (with M. Jorgensen), Regional Science and Urban Economics, Volume 46, 2014, pp. 116-125.

“Transnational Tracking, Law Enforcement and Victim Protection: A Middleman Tracker’s Perspective” (with A. Basu, A. Bedi and N. Chau), Journal of Law and Economics, May 2014, v. 57, pp. 349-386.

“Young Adult Obesity and Household Income: Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers.” (with Emilia Simeonova, J. Costello, W. Copeland, and A. Angold), American Economics Journal: Applied Economics, 2013, 5(2):1-28.
Press: New York Times
Blog Posts: Daily KosThe EconomistThe Washington Post

“The Persistence of Self-Employment Across Borders: New Evidence on Legal Immigrants to the United States”,  (with David A Jaeger and Konstantinos Tatsiramos) Economics Bulletin, Vol. 33 No. 1 pp. 126-137, 2013.

“Skin Tone’s Decreasing Importance on Employment: Evidence from a Longitudinal Dataset, 1985-2000.” (with Mutlu Yuksel) Industrial and Labor Relations Review, V. 62, No. 2, 2012.

“Errors in Self-Reported Wages: The Role of Previous Earnings Volatility and Individual Characteristics.” Journal of Development Economics, V. 96, No. 2, Nov. 2011, pp. 409-421.

“‘Counting Experience’ Among the Least Counted: The Role of Cultural and Community Engagement on Educational Outcomes for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Students.” (with Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz), American Indian Culture and Research Journal, V. 35 Num. 3,  pp. 119-150, 2011.

“Parents’ Incomes and Children’s Outcomes: A Quasi-Experiment with Casinos on American Indian Reservations,” (with J. Costello, W. Copeland, G. Keeler and A. Angold), American Economics Journal: Applied Economics, Volume 2, No. 1, January 2010, pp. 86-115.

Working Papers:

“Land Titles and Dispossession: Allotment on American Indian Reservations,”

“First People Lost: Determining the State of Status First Nations Mortality in Canada using Administrative Data,” (with D. Feir) revise and resubmit at Canadian Journal of Economics.

“Racial and Ethnic Income Inequality and Mobility from 2000 to 2014: Evidence from Matched IRS-Census Bureau Data.” (with M. Jones and S. Porter), revise and resubmit at Demography.

“Family Income and the Intergenerational Transmission of Voting Behavior: Evidence from an Income Intervention,” (with E. Simeonova, J. Holbein, E. Costello and W. Copeland)

Reservation Nonemployer and Employer Establishments: Data from U.S. Census Longitudinal Business Databases,” (with Elton Mykerezi and Richard Todd)

Research Reports and Books:

“Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities: A Data Review,” Native Nations Institute Report, with Miriam Jorgensen.

“American Indians on Reservations: A Databook of Socioeconomic Change from 1990 to 2010,” 2014, with Jonathan Taylor.

Research Report for the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. “Migrant Households In India: A Comparison Of The Average Migrant Household And Migrant Households With Non-Resident Accounts In Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra And Punjab.” A Joint Report of Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, 2012, with Devesh Kapur.

Research in Labor Economics.  “Child Labor and the Transition between School and Work”  2010. Vol. 31, edited with Eric Edmonds and Konstantinos Tatsiramos, Emerald Publishing.

Institute for the Study of Labor Prize Book.  “Wages, School Quality and Employment Demand David Card and Alan Krueger” 2011. edited with Klaus Zimmermann, Oxford University Press.

Popular Press:

“Credit Scores & Indians: Recent Evidence on the Prevalence of Low Scores & Borrowing”

Indian Country Today Media Network, April 10, 2016

“The Good(?) and Bad of Boarding Schools”

Indian Country Today Media Network, March 3, 2016.

“Manufacturing Consent for the Living AND the Dead in Hawai’i” with

Noelani Arista. Indian Country Today Media Network, November 20, 2015.

 

John Villasenor

John Villasenor is a professor of public policy, electrical and computer engineering, management, and law at UCLA, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford. Villasenor’s work considers the technology, policy, and legal issues arising from key technology trends including the growth of artificial intelligence, the increasing complexity and interdependence of today’s networks and systems, and continued advances in computing and communications.

He has written for the AtlanticBillboard, the Chronicle of Higher EducationFast CompanyForbes, the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Scientific AmericanSlate, and the Washington Post, and for many academic journals. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, Villasenor was with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he developed methods of imaging the earth from space. He holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

For more information, please visit Professor Villasenor’s personal page.