ALUMNI NEWS
Dr. David C. Wilson Reflects on His Deanship of the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley
D r. David C. Wilson (Epsilon Rho 1989) is the Dean of the Goldman School and a Professor of Public Policy. His appointment was announced on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, to the University of California, Berkeley cam- pus community by Chancellor Carol Christ and Paul Alivisatos, Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost and was ef- fective July 1, 2021. By Dr. Samuel Odom Wilson’s research examines how individuals formulate their political preferences about race and justice, and how social cognition shapes broader survey response behaviors. His research is published widely in areas of inquiry that include the application of double- standards in evaluating racial groups and related policy issues, attitudes toward voter identification laws and electoral malfeasance, blame attribu- tions toward elected leaders and political groups, and how diversity culture and climate affect organizational employee engagement. He is also the co-author of the forthcoming book, Racial Resent- ment in the Political Mind (University of Chicago Press). Wilson’s academic specializations include survey research methods and experiments (psychology of survey re- sponse), political psychology, and Ameri- can politics, with an emphasis on the measurement and analysis of intergroup attitudes and political behavior. He holds life memberships in several organi- zations including the American Political Science Association (APSA), the Inter- national Society for Political Psychol- ogy (ISPP), Midwest Political Science Association, Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Ad- ministration, the National Conference
plication consultant for the SPSS statistical software corporation, assisting public and private sector clients in data analysis and market research. He earned a BA in Govern- ment from Western Ken- tucky University. He holds an MPA (public policy and administration), MA in political science, and a PhD in political science, all from Michigan State University. David C. Wilson is a mili- tary veteran with 19 years of service to the U.S. Army Reserves, including combat tours for Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.
of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS), and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He most recently served on the Executive Council for the American Association of Public Opinion Researchers, and on the Advisory Committee and Edito- rial Board of Public Opinion Quarterly (POQ). Prior to joining the Goldman School, Wilson was the Senior Associate Dean for the Social Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Delaware and a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations with a joint appointment in the Department of Psy- chological and Brain Sciences. Wilson has also held senior positions with the Gallup Polling Organization, leading national and international survey projects examining topics ranging from workplace creativity to prejudice in politics. He served as a product ap-
In discussing his outlook as Dean, Dr. Wilson stated, “I am and have always been a thinker. I value fully understand- ing issues from a range of perspectives and tend to question most status quo ideas before adopting them wholesale. This perspective and framework for navigating the world is why I am now a professor and Dean today.” “Motivated by personal experiences as a Latin-African American growing up in the American South, and bolstered by a summer Woodrow Wilson/Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) program (University of Michigan, 1993), I origi- nally pursued graduate study in public policy and administration at Michigan State University. Eventually, I earned an MPA; but, along the way my exposure to different types of data and statistics, research designs, and political behaviors led me to the fields of political psychol-
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