Professor Samuel Nunn has served as associate director of the Center and as a faculty member for the IUPUI School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) since 1993. He now serves as director of criminal justice research for the Center.
Professor Nunn’s research has focused on local economic development policy, including public infrastructure budgeting and spending in cities, the effects of capital spending on municipal budgets, and the impact of advanced technologies on cities and urban police operations. He has also published research on tax-base sharing initiatives, the use of public/private partnerships by local governments, a comparative analysis of municipal airport development, and a national analysis of cooperative metropolitan economic development. His recent research has focused on the impacts of technology on criminal justice operations and systems.
Professor Nunn received his bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University, his master’s in urban studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his doctorate in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware.
Before joining IUPUI, he was on the faculty of the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas from 1989 to 1993. Prior to that, he worked for more than eight years in municipal administration for economic development, telecommunications planning, project management, and departmental management, serving as assistant director of the Fort Worth, Texas, water utility, with a $200 million annual budget. He was also a principal negotiator in a major effort to enhance regional cooperation in the renegotiation of 45 interlocal utility contracts in Fort Worth.
Professor Nunn has taught courses on strategic and urban planning, urban structure and policy, public management, and the causes and consequences of terrorism.
He has published articles in many social science journals, including the Journal of Urban Affairs, Journal of the American Planning Association, The Professional Geographer, Urban Geography, Economic Development Quarterly, Public Works Management and Policy, Public Budgeting and Finance, Public Administration Review, Public Productivity and Management Review, Journal of Urban Technology, Evaluation Review, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.