Rate My Professor Matthew Mingus

Matthew S. Mingus, Professor of Public Administration at Western Michigan University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, has been a faculty member since 1998, advancing from instructor to full professor in 2008. He currently serves as Director of Academic Labor Relations and Contract Administration in the Office of the Provost and as Director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration. Previously, he held roles such as Graduate Programs Director and Doctoral Director at WMU. Mingus holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver (1999, Pi Alpha Alpha), M.P.A. from the University of Victoria (1991), and B.A. summa cum laude in Public Affairs and Speech Communications from the University of Denver (1988, Phi Beta Kappa, Harry S. Truman Scholar). His professional experience extends to Senior Governance Specialist with the U.S. Department of State in Iraq (2009-2010), Fulbright Research Chair at the University of Ottawa (2005-2006), visiting professor positions in China (2013-2014) and at the University of Michigan (2013, 2015), and earlier roles in Canadian government and U.S. nonprofits.

His academic interests encompass comparative public management, negotiation, transnationalism, decentralization, and multilevel governance, informed by fieldwork in China, Iraq, and Canada. Notable publications are “Comparative Political-Bureaucratic Response to Pandemics: LGBTQIA+ Populations and Three Pandemics in the U.S.” (2025), “Factors Motivating the Timing of COVID-19 Shelter in Place Orders by U.S. Governors” (2020, with J. Kevin Corder and Daria Blinova), “The Big Questions of Chinese Public Management Research” (Administration & Society, 2017, with Zhu Jing), “Progress and Challenges with Iraq’s Multilevel Governance” (Public Administration Review, 2012), and “Trade Concentration and Homeland Security on the Canada-United States Border” (Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2002). Awards include the WMU Distinguished Teaching Award (2019), medals for excellence from U.S. military units in Iraq (2009-2010), and selection as a top 50 emerging scholar at Minnowbrook III (2008). Mingus has influenced policy through consulting on COVID-19 responses and the Flint water crisis, and governance training for the U.S. Navy.