Bruce McDonald is an associate professor of public budgeting and finance at North Carolina State University’s School of Public and International Affairs. McDonald also directs the Municipal Research Lab, serves as the editor-in-chief of Public Administration, co-editor-in-chief the Journal of Public Affairs Education, and as a general editor for the Routledge Public Affairs Education Book Series.
He teaches masters and doctoral level courses in public budgeting, financial management, and research design and conducts research. As a researcher on public and nonprofit management, he investigates issues related to government performance across a number of areas of social science research, focusing on how to improve government efficiency. McDonald has carried his journalism experience forward and published more than 30 articles and chapters in such outlets as The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, American Review of Public Administration, Review of Public Personnel Administration, and The International Journal of Public Sector Management.
McDonald sits on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the North Carolina Public Administration Alliance and Regions Beyond International. Prior to his academic career, McDonald served spent a number of years working on Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative aide to Senator Bob Graham and, later, to Representative Allen Boyd. McDonald received his B.A. in journalism from Mercer University (2003), his M.A. in peace and conflict resolution from American Military University (2004), a M.Sc. in economic history from the London School of Economics (2005), M.Ed. in training and instructional design from North Carolina State University (2020), and a Ph.D. in public administration and policy from Florida State University (2011). His research has been supported by a variety of organizations, including the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Sony, Inc., and Florida TaxWatch.