MPA Faculty Spotlight: Amanda Stewart

Amanda J. Stewart is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration. Dr. Stewart teaches in the Public Administration masters and doctoral programs, and her courses include Management of Nonprofit Organizations (PA 536), Fund Development (PA 539) and Grant Writing for Public Administrators (PA 540). She has experience teaching both online and in-person, and values opportunities to engage with her students.

Her research centers on nonprofit organizations, including leadership continuity, career development and organizational capacity. Examples of her current research include career development of nonprofit professionals and how boards prepare for and manage executive transitions. She has developed collaborative research relationships that are mindful of both academic and practical contributions. Stewart serves on the editorial board of the Journal Nonprofit Management and Leadership in addition to being a reviewer for other scholarly journals.

Dr. Stewart has over ten years of experience working in nonprofit organizations ranging from small, local efforts to large, international organizations, and continues to actively engage with the sector. She earned her master’s degree in social work (macro focus) from Boston College and her bachelor’s in business administration from Birmingham-Southern College. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs.

At the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action’s (ARNOVA) 49th annual conference, Dr. Stewart was awarded the 2020 RGK-ARNOVA President’s Award. “The RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the University of Texas at Austin and ARNOVA offer this annual award to encourage innovative, foundation research in the field of nonprofit and philanthropic studies. This award aims to support projects that incorporate and apply insights, frameworks and theories from the social sciences to the study of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy and volunteerism.”

Dr. Stewart is a mom to Andrew, age 3 1/2 (the 1/2 really matters to him), and her family enjoys golfing, camping and scooter riding (yes, she and her husband both have scooters).