The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government is a public policy research institute, or think tank, that conducts studies and other projects relating to state and local government in the United States, American federalism, public management and finance, the implementation of national initiatives at the state and local level, urban and community issues, and government in New York State. The Institute is located in Albany, New York, and is part of the central administration of the State University of New York.

History

The Institute was founded in 1981 in conjunction with the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, upon a proposal by then-SUNY chancellor Clifton Wharton. Wharton wanted to acknowledge the role that Governor Rockefeller played in building up the State and City universities to become the largest public university system in the nation.

Warren Ilchman was the first director of the Institute until 1987, when David Andersen was named interim director. In 1989, Richard P. Nathan became the Institute’s second director. Prior to coming to Albany, Nathan was a professor at Princeton University, worked at the Brookings Institution, and served in the first Nixon Administration. Since 2005, the Institute has two co-directors, Richard P. Nathan and Thomas L. Gais, and a Deputy Director, Robert B. Ward, who was appointed in 2007. Other researchers who have worked at the Institute have included David Wright, Irene Lurie, Frank Thompson, James Fossett, Joseph Burke, Steven Gold, Donald Boyd, Gerald Benjamin, Mark Ragan, Michael Malbin, and T. Norman Hurd.

Study Areas

The Institute views its mission as providing independent, in-depth knowledge on the finances, programs, and operations of state and local governments. When conducting research, it has often applied a field network methodology in analyzing whether and how national and state policies are put into effect, what government capacities ought to be upgraded and reformed to perform their responsibilities, how state and local governments manage their fiscal burdens, and the ways governments have used private nonprofit, for-profit, and religious organizations to carry out their responsibilities. These networks involve multi-state case studies conducted by public policy researchers in their respective states and coordinated by Institute staff.

Areas of study have included:

State and Local Government Finance
Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations
Health and Medicaid
Workforce, Welfare and Social Services
Education
New York State Activities
Government Reforms
Cities and Neighborhoods
Faith-based Human Services
Program Management
Public Safety, Disasters, and Homeland Security

Senior Central Staff

Richard P. Nathan, Co-Director
Thomas L. Gais, Co-Director
Robert B. Ward, Deputy Director
R. Elizabeth Praetorius, Director of Finance and Administration
Michael Cooper, Director of Publications and Communications

Senior Research Staff

Allison Armour-Garb, K-12 Education
Courtney Burke, Medicaid Studies
James Fossett, Medicaid Studies
Thomas Gais, American Federalism
Claire Hughes, Roundtable on Religion and Social Programs
Lisa Montiel, Roundtable on Religion and Social Programs and Cities and Neighborhoods
Richard Nathan, American Federalism and New York State Activities
Robert Ward, State and Local Government Finances and New York State Activities
David Wright, Roundtable on Religion and Social Programs and Cities and Neighborhoods

External Link

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government Official Web Site (http://www.rockinst.org/)

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