Executive Branch in Our Backyard: Presidential Impact in Hopkins' Home

William Howell is inaugural Dean of the School of Government and Policy at Johns Hopkins University, where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Political Science. William has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency. He currently is working on research projects on separation of powers issues, the institutional foundations of effective government, and emergent threats to democracy.

William’s most recent book (with Terry Moe) is Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency, which Princeton University Press is publishing in 2025. He also is the author or co-author of numerous other books, including: Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy (University of Chicago, 2020); Relic: How the Constitution Undermines Effective Government–And Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency (Basic Books, 2016); The Wartime President: Executive Influence and the Nationalizing Politics of Threat (University of Chicago Press, 2013); Thinking about the Presidency: The Primacy of Power (Princeton University Press, 2013); While Dangers Gather: Congressional Checks on Presidential War Powers (Princeton University Press, 2007); Power without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action (Princeton University Press, 2003); The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools (Brookings Institution Press, 2002); and textbooks on the American presidency and American Politics. His research also has appeared in numerous professional journals and edited volumes.

William is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, and a former fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He is the recipient, among other academic awards, of the Legacy Award for enduring research on executive politics, the William Riker award for the best book in political economy, the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress, the Richard Neustadt award for the best book on the American presidency, and the E.E. Schattschneider Award for the best dissertation in American Politics. His work has been supported by such foundations as the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Bradley Foundation. He has written for a wide variety of media outlets, including the Boston Review, Prospect Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and Education Next.

Before coming to Johns Hopkins, William was a faculty member in the Harris School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, the government department at Harvard University, and the political science department at the University of Wisconsin. In 2000, he received a PhD in political science from Stanford University. 

Beth Blauer is the Vice President of Public Impact Initiatives at Johns Hopkins University, where she manages the university's extensive investments in the city of Baltimore. Before becoming Vice President, Blauer served as the Associate Vice Provost for Public Innovation, overseeing the launch and operations of both the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence and the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation. Additionally, she is an Assistant Professor of the Practice at the Carey Business School.

Blauer is the founder and former Executive Director of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence and Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins. She established GovEx as a leader in providing data-driven insights for city leaders and public sector practitioners worldwide. She successfully collaborated with over 200 mayors to promote data and evidence in local governments. Under her leadership, the centers notably hosted and supported the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Before her role at Johns Hopkins, Blauer began her public service career in 2002 as a juvenile probation officer in Maryland, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the department's Chief of Staff. In 2008, then-Governor Martin O'Malley appointed her to lead the StateStat program, which became a nationally recognized model of excellence in government and later replicated around the globe. Following this success, Blauer designed and launched Socrata's GovStat platform for federal, state, and local governments.

With over twenty years of experience as a public servant and international expert on government performance programs, Beth Blauer has dedicated her career to enhancing people's lives by incorporating data into government decision-making processes. In 2022, she was inducted into the National Academy of Public Administration.

Marvin James is a strategist and manager that specializes in helping clients overcome complex policy and political challenges with precisely executed aggressive, creative, and asymmetric tactics and strategies. Prior to serving as chief of staff, Marvin played a critical role in mobilizing advocacy, voting and fundraising efforts for many African Americans and Black religious institutions.  In 2018, Marvin advised and created constituency plans for seniors and religious leaders for Stacey Abrams campaign. He attended the University of Baltimore where he studied and trained under Maryland’s leading authoritative on campaigns and government, former Maryland Secretary of State John T. Willis. Marvin is a proud product of the Black Pentecostal Church and resident of Baltimore City.

Mary Bruce is the Assistant Director of Public Programs at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, a multi-disciplinary academic and public forum dedicated to strengthening global democracy by improving and expanding civic engagement and inclusive dialogue, and by supporting inquiry that leads to real-world change.  As assistant director of the SNF Agora Institute, Mary co-creates opportunities for meaningful dialogue and debate that inspire more active participation in democratic life. Throughout her career, she has worked to expand civic participation, including efforts of George HW Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. A former adjunct professor at UVA's Batten School of Leadership, Mary holds a BA in Poverty Studies from UVA and an MPA from Princeton University. She served in both the Peace Corps (Morocco) and AmeriCorps (Washington, DC). Mary’s work reflects her belief that democracy works better for everyone by combining thoughtful scholarship with practical action.