Laura Wilson-Gentry is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Senior Manager of Program Evaluation Research at the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. She received her Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma, her master's degree in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York at Albany, and Bachelors degrees in Political Science and Economics from the University of Rhode Island. She is the recipient of numerous academic awards such as the Yale Gordon Distinguished Research Chair (University of Baltimore), Leek Scholar in Public Affairs (University of Oklahoma) and Lehman Fellow in Social Sciences (State University of New York). She has published thirteen articles on a variety of subjects in journals such as Public Administration Review, Journal of Politics, American Journal of Public Administration, and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Among the topics she has studied are state interest groups, assaults on police officers, Total Quality Management, and most recently, the impacts of welfare reform.