Sheldon Gen

headshot of Sheldon Gen

Faculty Representative

Sheldon Gen is Professor of Public Administration in the School of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement.  He is the co-author of "Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy: Their Strategies and Stories" (2020), a groundbreaking book investigating how nonprofit organizations help shape public policies. Prior to his academic career, he was a civil engineer with public agencies including the Peace Corps, the US Air Force and the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2020, he was re-elected to the Board of Education of Petaluma City Schools. A son of immigrants, and a first-generation college graduate, he holds a B.S. from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and holds a license in civil engineering, an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology in Public Policy. He is also an alumnus of the Presidential Management Fellowship and the Wikipedia Teaching Fellowship, and the recipient of the Peace Corps’ Franklin H. Williams Award for outstanding public service.