Welcome to our 2026-2029 Commissioners!

Under the guidance of the 2026-2027 Chair, Dr. Shaoming Cheng, the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA) is pleased to announce the addition of four new Commissioners, who will be serving from 2026 to 2029:

Alison Jacknowitz

Alison Jacknowitz is the Dean of the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University and a Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy (DPAP). Prior to serving as Dean, she held the role of Senior Associate Dean. Her administrative leadership further includes Chair and Associate Chair of DPAP and MPP Director. Beyond American University, Jacknowitz contributes to the broader public affairs community. She currently is member of the Executive Council of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). She was previously a member of the Executive Committee of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). She was a long-term member of the Technical Advisory Group of Feeding America. An expert on children’s well-being, Jacknowitz’s research focuses on food insecurity, poverty, and food assistance. She has also conducted research on early childhood education. Her research has been supported by several organizations including the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Institute for Research on Poverty, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, and Feeding America. Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals including: Demography, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Pediatrics, Social Service Review, and The Journal of Human Resources. Jacknowitz teaches Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis I and Program Evaluation. Jacknowitz has been the recipient of the SPA Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Full-Time Appointment as well as the SPA Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in Teaching. She received the SPA Award for Outstanding Service to the University Community and the SPA Pioneer Award.

Darlene Pierre-Louis

Practitioner and educator is a resident of Illinois. A lifelong learner whose career reflects both passion and purpose, she is a dedicated nonprofit consultant with a scholarly focus on social enterprises in mission-driven settings. Her published academic work, Social Enterprise: A Social Entrepreneur Leadership Model Used to Enhance Nonprofit Organizational Performance, examines innovative leadership strategies that strengthen organizational effectiveness.

An esteemed college professor, Dr. Pierre-Louis teaches Ethics and Social Responsibility at the University of Arizona Global Campus. An unwavering advocate for philanthropy and volunteerism, she has devoted her career to advancing ethical leadership, public service, and creative expression.

Beyond her academic and consulting pursuits, Dr. Pierre-Louis is an author and guest speaker.

Denise Thompson

Dr. Denise D. P. Thompson is Deputy Chair for Assessment and an associate professor in the Public Management Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. She brings more than a decade of accreditation experience to her recent appointment to NASPAA’s Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA), following extended service as a Site Visitor and as co-chair of her college’s assessment committee. She also co-chairs NASPAA’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Section and serves on the boards of the American Society for Public Administration’s Sections on Public Administration Education, African Public Administration, and Emergency and Crisis Management. Dr. Thompson previously directed the MPA Inspection and Oversight program and holds research appointments with RaCERS and the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies.

Dr. Thompson’s research examines the intersections of disaster risk management, resilience, sustainable development, logistics, and humanitarian supply chains, with particular attention to the Global South. Her work investigates how institutional and structural arrangements and systems shape the lived experiences of marginalized populations, generating insights that inform more inclusive, contextually grounded policy and practice. Through this scholarship, she highlights the contributions and perspectives of communities often overlooked in development planning, disaster governance, and decision-making, advancing approaches that promote equity, participation, and well-being.

She contributes her expertise to several editorial and professional boards, including the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Disaster Prevention and Resilience, and the Crisis Response Journal. She also serves as a reviewer for several journals, including PAR.

Gao Xiang

Gao Xiang is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at Zhejiang University. Her research examines how the Chinese state reconfigures its governing model in response to marketization, globalization, and digital transformation, with a focus on comparative government and institutional change. Her recent work centers on artificial intelligence: she co-founded Baixiao AI and studies how the Chinese state promotes and governs the AI industry. She is the author of Delegation and Development: Local Government in China’s Market Transition (in Chinese, Zhejiang University Press) and a co-author (with Jessica Teets) of China’s New Governance Model, forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. Her articles have appeared in Dædalus, Government Information Quarterly, Journal of Chinese Governance, China Information, and China Review. Dr. Gao serves as Director of the MPA Program at Zhejiang University. Her previous work with NASPAA includes service as a site visitor.