Three from Humphrey School Find New Leadership Opportunities

March 1, 2022
Head shots of Carissa Slotterback, Kaye Husbands Fealing, and Jodi Sandfort
L-R: Former Humphrey School faculty members Carissa Slotterback, Kaye Husbands Fealing, and Jodi Sandfort took new leadership roles at other schools of public policy in recent years.

The mission of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs is to inspire, educate, and support innovative leaders to advance the common good in a diverse world. It's a goal that applies to all members of our School community. 

During Women’s History Month, we’re especially proud to note that three faculty members from the Humphrey School moved on to lead other public policy schools in recent years. 

Jodi Sandfort, who was a professor in the School’s leadership and management area, became dean of the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington in January 2021. 

Sandfort joined the Humphrey School in 2006, and during her 15 years at the School she focused on improving the design and evaluating programs focused on low-income children and their families.

To that end, in 2016 Sandfort founded the Future Services Institute, an applied research and training center that works with state and local government agencies and nonprofits to advance a human-centered design approach that keeps the needs and daily realities of struggling families and individuals at the forefront. 

Among her other accomplishments, she founded the Hubert Project, an international collection of multimedia teaching materials in public affairs; led the redesign of the Humphrey School’s mid-career masters degree into a cohort model; and co-authored Effective Implementation in Practice: Integrating Public Policy and Management (Jossey-Bass, 2015), an important text in the field.

Before her departure, Sandfort said the Humphrey School prepared her well for her new role.  

“My biggest lesson from the Humphrey School is to never compromise on the significance of higher education in supporting problem-solving of people in the community,” Sandfort said. "There's a philosophy called pragmatism that the Humphrey School embodies in the way we work, and I think of it as the next generation of policy schools.”  

Carissa Slotterback, who served as the Humphrey School's associate dean for three years, became dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in fall of 2020.

Slotterback joined the Humphrey School as an assistant professor in the urban and regional planning area in 2004, and was associate dean from 2017 to 2020. 

“I am grateful for my wonderful colleagues at the Humphrey School and the University of Minnesota,” said Slotterback in her announcement. “I have been fortunate to work in an institution with such a deep commitment to the public interest and engagement.” 

Throughout her tenure at the University, Slotterback led efforts in the areas of interdisciplinary research, engagement, and sustainability. Prior to serving as associate dean, she was director of the urban and regional planning program for several years; initiated and led the University’s Resilient Communities Project; and was director of research engagement in the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Slotterback has also held multiple leadership positions, including vice president, with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, a prominent national organization overseeing public policy education. 

Kaye Husbands Fealing is the dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She was promoted to that position in June 2020, after serving as the chair of the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech for the previous six years.  

Husbands Fealing was a professor in the Humphrey School’s science, technology, and environmental policy (STEP) area from 2009 until her departure for Georgia Tech in 2014. While at the Humphrey School she received teaching awards for the academic years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2014.

Husbands Fealing specializes in science and innovation policy, the public value of research expenditures, and the underrepresentation of women and minorities in STEM fields and workforce. 

Her distinguished career includes serving in several different capacities with the National Science Foundation (NSF) — including program director and science advisor for the Science of Science and Innovation Policy Program, and program liaison with the European Science Foundation. She taught economics at Williams College from 1989 through 2009.