Girth, Head and Schooner Join the Research Council to Broaden Areas of Expertise
The Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) is pleased to welcome three new members of the Research Council: Amanda Girth, Ph.D., Larry Head, Ph.D., and Steven Schooner, Esq. These members are subject matter experts in their respective areas of research, teaching and practice. The recent establishment of the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) requires a broadening of expertise represented on the research council to include areas such as policy, law, business and economics, infrastructure, data sciences, social sciences and more. These new members represent that expansion and the broadening of the network. Their guidance will lead to further interdisciplinary advances that distinguish the importance and prominence of the SERC, and the AIRC.
Reflecting on the role of research council members, Dinesh Verma, Executive Director, SERC and AIRC, said, “Both the Systems Engineering Research Center and the Acquisition Innovation Research Center were established with a view towards nucleating and nurturing a network of prominent faculty and researchers to support the engineering and acquisition of increasingly complex systems and solutions by the U.S. Government in general, and the Department of Defense in particular. This strategic intent requires the active engagement of premier faculty members who are simultaneously collaborative and able to work across disciplinary boundaries on complex problems. Faculty on the Research Council continue to exemplify these attributes.”
Amanda Girth, Associate Professor, Director of Washington Studies in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, was recently appointed as an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2021-2023). She is involved with a number of professional associations and serves on the editorial board for Perspectives on Public Management & Governance. Dr. Girth researches implementation issues and accountability challenges in third-party governance. She studies the strategies that front-line public managers utilize to manage their contracts, contract markets and various constituencies. She examines how public managers design and implement performance incentives to motivate contractor behavior. She also analyzes inclusion policies that target underrepresented groups in order to understand the impact of such acquisition policies on purchasing agencies and suppliers.
Larry Head is a Professor of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. He currently serves on the Arizona Governor’s Task Force for Self-Driving Vehicles, is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Traffic Signal Systems Committee and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee, and a past member of the SAE DSRC Technical Committee. He is an Associate Editor of Transportation Research – Part C. He is a member of TRB, SAE, ASEE, INFORMS, IISE, and IEEE. Dr. Head has over 30 years of academic and industry experience related to systems engineering, engineering management, adaptive traffic signal control and signal priority, and connected and automated vehicle systems. He has served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, Interim Vice Provost for Online Learning, Director of the Transportation Research Institute, and Department Head of the Systems and Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Arizona.
Steven Schooner is the Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law at the George Washington University Law School. He is a fellow of the National Contract Management Association, a certified professional contracts manager (CPCM), and recipient of the Charles A. Dana Distinguished Service Award. Professor Schooner is the faculty adviser to the ABA’s Public Contract Law Journal and serves on the Procurement Round Table and the advisory board of the Government Contractor. Professor Schooner’s scholarship focuses primarily upon federal government contract law and public procurement policy. Before joining GWU faculty in 1998, Professor Schooner was the associate administrator for procurement law and legislation at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget. He previously served as a trial and appellate attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice. Professor Schooner also practiced with private law firms and, as an active duty Army judge advocate, served as a commissioner at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. Until his retirement as an Army Reserve officer, he was an adjunct professor in the Contract and Fiscal Law Department of the Judge Advocate General’s School of the Army.