PAUL ERIC TESKE

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School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80217-3364; 303-601-6457; paul.teske@ucdenver.edu

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UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, 2008-present

            I am one of 80 active scholars across the four campus CU system awarded with this designation, and I was the first on the CU Denver campus.

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PREVIOUS POSITIONS

 

DEAN, School of Public Affairs (SPA), University of Colorado Denver, 2008-2025

Professor, SPA, CU Denver, 2003-2008

Professor, SUNY Stony Brook, Political Science, 1987-2003

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            I started my academic career at Stony Brook in 1987 and served for more than 15 years on the faculty, as Assistant Professor (1988-1994), Associate Professor (1995-1998) and Full Professor (1998-2003).  I also served as director of the PhD program (1996-2003), and created and directed a new MA program in Public Policy (MAPP, 1997-2003). I directed SPA’s PhD program from 2004-8.

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Affiliated Research Fellow, Columbia University Institute for Tele-Information, 1991-2003.

 

Visiting Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, fall 1999, taught core MPA course in Domestic Politics and Policy Analysis.

 

Strategic Planning Analyst, NYC Transit Authority, 1983-85

 

Principal Researcher, NY City Partnership/Economcy Development Corpo,m 1982-83.

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EDUCATION

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Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Ph.D. 1989; MPA 1982

 

Olin Foundation Program in Economics and Public Policy Summer Fellowship 1987

Princeton University Fellowship, 1984-87

U.S. Health and Human Services Public Service Education Fellowship, 1981-82

Woodrow Wilson School Top Ten Merit Scholar, 1980-81

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University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, B.A. with Highest Honors in Economics, 1980

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Double major in Political Science; Phi Beta Kappa, 1979

James M. Johnston Scholarship, 1977-80

Chancellor's Outstanding Senior Johnston Scholar, 1980

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Selected Academic and Community Awards

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Distinguished Service Award, Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), 2022

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Ranked by AEI as one of top 200 Education Policy academic influencers, 2013-2019

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Recipient of the 2005 National Distinguished Research Award from NASPAA/ASPA

 

Top Researcher Award for 2005 for CU Denver campus

 

Top Researcher Award for SPA, 2004, 2006, and 2007

 

Recipient of Aaron Wildavsky Award for Best Public Policy book, Policy Studies Org, 2001

 

 

 

Recent Professional and Campus Service

 

            Elected to NASPAA’s Executive Council 2014-2018 (chaired NASPAA Executive Ed Committee 2012-14).

            Member US Department of Education (ED) Technical Working Group on choice decision-making 2016-17;

Member US ED Technical Working Group on Parent Choice 2012-13; Member US ED Technical

Working Group on Voluntary Public School Choice evaluation 2003-2008.

            Editorial Board Member, Policy Studies Journal, 2010-2020; State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 2003-2011.

Member and Dean representative, CU system President search committee 2022

            Chair, Dean search for School of Education 2021; 2011; Chair, Dean search for  Business School, 2015, 2016,

2021; Chair, Dean search for College of Arts and Media, 2023

            Member, CU Denver and CU system Distinguished Professor committees, 2009-present

           

Community Policy Activities and Service

 

Academic founder and director of CiviCO Colorado Governors Fellows program, 2016-present

Academic partner for Governor’s Education Leadership Council, 2017- 2019 

Appointed by Colorado Governor Hickenlooper to the Board of the Regional Education Laboratory (funded

by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences), 2012-2018 

            Chair of the Board, Catapult School Leadership, Denver Colorado, 2014-2018

Member of Board of Directors, Great Education Colorado, 2009-2014

Governor Bill Ritter’s appointee to P20 Systems Transformation Committee, 2008-10

 

Major Accomplishments as SPA Dean

 

Moved US News and World Report ranking up to #27 in 2025. Earned first ever subfield rankings from US

News – in 2024, #10 for Environmental Policy, #18 for public finance, #18 for nonprofit management, #19 for

public management and leadership. SPA online MCJ program ranked #19 by US News in 2025.

 

Raised over $10 million in gifts and bequests for SPA.

 

            Oversaw expansion of BACJ degree from 0 to 375 students, the 8th largest major at CU Denver; Oversaw

creation of new BA in Public Administration, offered completely online, started fall 2016; Oversaw

creation of new MPP degree, in 2022.

 

Selected Media References

 

              My research has been quoted or discussed on National Public Radio stations (in Denver, NYC, Chicago, Ann

Arbor Michigan, Nevada. Oregon, California), in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal,

Bloomberg Business Week, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News,

Colorado Springs Gazette, Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal, Albany Times-Union, Education Week,

Washington Times, Demography magazine, ColoradoPolitics.com, CPR, Chalkbeat Colorado.

 

Selected Research Grant Awards

 

I have been a PI or co-PI on over $5 million of research, with major grants specified below:

 

Arnold Ventures and Walton Family Foundation, DPS reform outcomes, co-PI, 2023-24, $399,000

Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab, Colorado state efficiency programs, co-PI, 2020, $69,000

Ford Foundation, Mile High Connects, School transportation in Colorado, co-PI, 2017, $30,000

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Structuring Colorado’s School Turnarounds, PI, 2012, $79,800

National Science Foundation, 2007-11, Co-PI, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training

(IGERT), in Sustainable Urban Infrastructure, $3.2 million

Denver Public Schools, 2008-9, Co-PI for evaluation study of ProComp teacher pay plan, $385,000

Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates, Bradley and Casey

Foundations, 2007-8, PI, “Transportation and Parent Choice.” $119,000

Workforce Innovation Research and Education (WIRED) grant, PI, U.S. Department of Labor,

through City of Denver, 2006-9, “higher education role in workforce development,” $135,000

Bill and Melinda Gates, Bradley and Casey Foundations, 2004-6, PI for subcontracted study:

“Doing Choice Right: Information for Low-income parents.” $165,000

Smith Richardson Foundation, 2002, PI, “The Political Economy of State Regulation” $ 49,500

Manhattan Institute, 2000, PI, “The Effects of Charter School Competition on School Districts” $55,000

            U.S. National Science Foundation grant, 1994-96, Co-PI with Mark Schneider, “Institutions,

Incentives and Information in the Market for Local Public Goods,” $310,000

U.S. National Science Foundation grant, 1991-93, Co-PI with Mark Schneider, “Political

Entrepreneurs and the Local Market for Public Goods,” $127,000

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

I have authored, co-authored or edited eight books, three with major university presses, one with the Brookings Institution and one with the American Enterprise Institute.  I have authored or co-authored over 40 refereed articles and 20 book chapters.  My work is cited 6,509 times (Google Scholar), with an H-Index of 32 and an i10 index of 50. I have also chaired 15 doctoral dissertations, at Stony Brook and at CU Denver.

These citations ranked me #530 among all US political science scholars (“research.com” May 2024).  Obviously, my research productivity has been considerably lower over the past 17 years, when I have been Dean, but that period includes 1 edited book, 3 book chapters, and 3 peer reviewed articles.

 

Books

 

            President George W. Bush’s Influence over Bureaucracy and Policy –Extraordinary Times,

Extraordinary Powers?  Palgrave/Macmillan.  Ed. by Colin Provost and Paul Teske, 2009.

 

            Implementing Teacher Pay for Performance: An Inside Story of Denver’s ProComp.  Harvard

Education Press.  Phil Gonring, Paul Teske, and Brad Jupp.  2007.

 

Regulation in the States.  Brookings Institution Press. Paul Teske. 2004.

 

Choosing Schools: Consumer Choice and the Quality of American Schools.  Princeton University

Press. Mark Schneider, Paul Teske, and Melissa Marschall. 2000.

 

Public Entrepreneurs: Agents for Change in American Government.  Princeton University Press.

Mark Schneider and Paul Teske, with Michael Mintrom. 1995.

 

Deregulating Freight Transportation: Delivering the Goods. American Enterprise Institute for

Public Policy Research Press. Paul Teske, Samuel Best, and Michael Mintrom. 1995.

 

American Regulatory Federalism and Telecommunications Infrastructure.  Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates, Inc. Edited by Paul Teske. 1995.

 

After Divestiture: The Political Economy of State Telecommunications Regulation. State

University of New York Press. Paul Teske. 1990.

 

Selected Refereed Journal Articles

 

“Redesigning Denver’s Schools: The Rise and Fall of Tom Boasberg.” 2019. Parker Baxter, Todd

Ely, and Paul Teske. Education Next.

 

“A Bigger Slice of the Money Pie: Charters in Colorado and Florida win a share of local tax dollars.”

2018. Parker Baxter, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske. Education Next.

 

            “Implications of Public School Choice for Residential Location Decisions.” Todd Ely and Paul

Teske. Urban Affairs Review. 2014.

 

“Fiscal Management Implications of Colorado’s TABOR Bind.” Christine Martell and Paul Teske.

Public Administration Review, July/August 2007.

 

 “Principals, Agents and Regulatory Federalism in the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s.” Julie

Laumann and Paul Teske. State Politics and Policy Quarterly. 2003.

 

“Institutions and Outcomes in State Insurance Solvency Regulation.”  Ani Ruhil and Paul Teske.

Policy Studies Journal. 2003.

 

“Curriculum and Case Notes: Cheap Talk? Taking Seriously Market Benefits Expressed by

Consumer Willingness-to-Pay.” Paul Teske.  Journal of Policy Analysis and

Management.  2002.

 

“What Research Can Tell Policy Makers about School Choice.”  Paul Teske and Mark Schneider. 

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 2001.

 

            “Institutions and Reform: Reinventing Local Government.”  Urban Affairs Review. Ani Ruhil, Mark

Schneider, Paul Teske, and Byung Moon-Ji. 1999.

 

“Shopping for Schools: In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Parent may be Enough.”  American

Journal of Political Science. Mark Schneider, Paul Teske, Melissa Marschall, and Christine

Roch. 1998.

 

“Institutional Arrangements and Social Capital: Public School Choice.” American Political Science

Review. Mark Schneider, Paul Teske, Melissa Marschall, Michael Mintrom, and Christine

Roch. 1997.

 

            “Networks to Nowhere: Segregation and Stratification in Networks of Information about Schools.”

American Journal of Political Science.  Mark Schneider, Paul Teske, Christine Roch, and

Melissa Marschall. 1997.

 

“The Empirical Basis of Citizen Information and a Local Market for Public Goods.” American

Political Science Review. Paul Teske, Mark Schneider, Michael Mintrom, and Samuel Best.

1995.

 

"Bureaucratic Entrepreneurs: The Case of City Managers."  Public Administration Review.  Paul

Teske and Mark Schneider. 1994.

 

            "Establishing the Micro Foundations of a Macro Theory: Information, Movers, and the Competitive

Market for Local Public Goods." American Political Science Review.  Paul Teske, Mark

Schneider, Michael Mintrom, and Samuel Best.  1993.

 

"Toward A Theory of the Political Entrepreneur: Evidence from Local Government." American

Political Science Review.  Mark Schneider and Paul Teske.  1992.

 

"Interests and Institutions in State Regulation." American Journal of Political Science.  Paul Teske.

1991.