Expertise

-Social equity and policy narratives
-Intersectionality and the social construction of identity
-Theories of governance and epistemologies of racial inequality
-Community engagement in higher education

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Public Administration, University of Nebraska
M.P.A., Public and Nonprofit Management, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.S., Psychology, Old Dominion University
B.S., Human Services, Old Dominion University

BIOGRAPHY

Anthony Starke is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Virginia Commonwealth
University L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. Professor Starke's
research includes specific interests in vulnerable and oppressed populations, public service
education, and liberation. Prior to returning to the Wilder School as a faculty member, Professor
Starke was Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver's School of Public Affairs.
Professionally, Dr. Starke worked as a human services practitioner and qualified mental health
professional engaging with public, private, and nonprofit service providers. A native of Hanover
County, VA, his greatest accomplishment to date is being a proud and doting uncle to several
amazing humans.

TEACHING

VCU Courses
PADM 602: Public Administration Theory
PADM 672: Social Equity and Public Policy Analysis

Other Courses (non-VCU instruction)
PA 4530: Strategic Planning
PUAD 4009: Human Service Organizations
PUAD 5001: Introduction to Public Administration & Public Service
PUAD 5006: Public Ethics & Leadership
PUAD 5260: Managing Diversity
PUAD 5350: Program Evaluation
PUAD 6600: Special Topics in Social Equity and Social Policy

RESEARCH

Professor Starke's work focuses broadly on social equity with a particular interest in issues of
democracy, identity, citizenship, and social equity. His dissertation, entitled Policy Narratives
and Policy Design: An Interpretivist Analysis of Bureaucrats’ Narratives, U.S. Welfare Policy
Reform, and the Social Construction of Welfare Recipients, won the inaugural Best Dissertation
Award given by the American Society for Public Administration’s Section on Democracy and
Social Justice. In addition to authoring several book chapters and technical reports, Dr. Starke’s
peer-reviewed research is published in leading public affairs journals, such as Public
Administration Review, Administrative Theory & Praxis, Journal of Public Affairs Education,
State and Local Government Review, and Public Management Review.

PR8. Elgin, D. J., Carter, D. P. & Starke, A. M. (2023). Situating public management’s contributions to social equity: Using decomposition analysis to examine U.S. child welfare outcome disparities. Public Management Review. DOI:10.1080/14719037.2023.2219682 

PR7. Starke, A. M. & Mastracci, S. H. (2023). Epistemic racism and sexism in public administration and theory’s unfinished business. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 45(1), pp. 16-24. DOI:10.1080/10841806.2022.2158634 

PR6. Starke, A. M. (2020). Poverty, policy, and federal administrative discourse: Are bureaucrats speaking equitable policy designs into existence?. Public Administration Review, 80(6), pp. 1087-1099. DOI: 10.1111/puar.13191

PR3. Starke, A. M., Heckler, N. & Mackey, J. (2018). Administrative racism: Public administration education and race. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 24(4), pp. 469-489. DOI: 10.1080/15236803.2018.1426428

BC7. Starke, A. M. & Zettas, E. (In Press). Defining administrative racism through the lens of higher education community engagement. Prepared for: Sara Rinfret (Ed.), The untold case studies in public administration: Documenting the voices of public service (pp. 15-32). New York, NY: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003359579-3

BC8. Starke, A. M. (In Press). Organizational theory. In Susan T. Gooden and Sean A McCandless (Eds.), Teaching Social Equity: A Cross-Curricular Guide for Faculty and Programs, (pp. 42-58). New York, NY: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003309680-4 

BC6. Croft, A. & Starke, A. M. (2023). Discourse. In Stephanie Dolamore and Angela Kline (Eds.), Organizational Culture and Social Equity: An Experiential Guide, (pp. 88-103). New York, NY: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003395591.

BC5. Gooden, S. T. & Starke, A. M. (2021). Social equity and public administration. In Thomas Byers (Ed.), Handbook of Theories of Public Administration Management, (pp. 43-53). Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: 10.4337/9781789908251

BR1. Starke, A. M. (2023). [Review for the book From equity talk to equity walk: Expanding practitioner knowledge for racial justice in higher education, by T. B. McNair, E. M. Bensimon, L. Malcolm-Piquex]. Why eight minutes and forty-six seconds is worth reading from equity talk to equity walk: expanding practitioner knowledge for racial justice in higher education. Journal Social Equity and Public Administration, 1(1), pp. 97-99. DOI: 10.24926/jsepa.v1i1.4802.

SERVICE

Professor Starke often lends his expertise to serve and lead universities, communities, and the
profession. During his tenure as Secretary and Newsletter Editor for the Section of Democracy
and Social Justice, he was recognized with the American Society of Public Administration’s
(ASPA) Patricia J. Yearwood Chapter Newsletter Award. Professor Starke has also been
honored with the Excellence in Leadership and Service Award (Tenure/Tenure-Track) at the
University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs.

Service to VCU

Program
· Member, MPA Program Committee (2022-present)
· Member, MPA Admissions Committee (2023 – present)
· Faculty Co-Sponsor, Public Administration Student Association (2022 – present)
School
· Chair, Wilder School Racial Equity Action Plan Steering Committee (2023 –
present)
· Member, Wilder School Artificial Intelligence Taskforce (2023 – present)
· Member, Wilder School Racial Literacy Workgroup (2023 – present)
· Co-Chair, Racial Equity Action Plan, Community and Alumni Engagement
Committee (2022 – 2023)
· Member, PPAD/RISE Tenure-Track Assistant and Associate Professor Search
Committee (2022 – 2023)
· Member, Wilder Fellows Interview Panel (2023)
· Member, Wilder School Scholarship Review Committee (2023)
University
· Member, Project Gabriel Implementation Taskforce (2023)

Service to the Profession

· Fellows Workshop Facilitator, Public Administration Theory Network Conference
Committee (2023)
· Member, NASPAA Conference Program Committee (2022, 2023)
· Director and Board Secretary, Public Administration Theory Network (2019 – 2022)
· District 4 Representative, Conference of Minority Public Administrators (2020 - 2022)
· Member, NASPAA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Taskforce (2020)
· Secretary & Newsletter Editor, ASPA Section on Democracy and Social Justice (2016 -
2018)

Service to the Community

· Commissioner, Judicial Review Commission, City of Lakewood, CO (2020 – 2022)

AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dr. Starke is the recipient of several professional awards and academic honors including VCU Wilder Graduate Scholars Fellow (2014), ASPA Founders' Fellow (2014) and International Young Scholar (2016), Engagement Scholarship Consortium Engaged Scholar Awardee (2016), PAT-Net Fellow (2017), and University of Nebraska Presidential Graduate Fellow (2018). An accomplished instructor and faculty colleague, Professor Starke received NASPAA's Social Justice Curriculum Award (2020), CU Denver's School of Public Affairs Excellence in Teaching (2021) and Excellence in Leadership and Service (2022) Awards for Tenure/Tenure-Track faculty. He is the inaugural recipient of ASPA's Section on Democracy and Social Justice Best Dissertation Award (2020).