Samuel Workman

About Samuel Workman

I am Professor and Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs in the John D.\"Jay\" Rockefeller School of Policy and Politics at West Virginia University. We provide non-partisan research and analysis to state, county, and municipal officials in the Appalachian region. We are interested in all areas of public policy and public-private partnerships. The Institute\'s initiatives seek to build data infrastructure and information systems in the region to help facilitate data-driven decision-making in public policy, good governance, and aid in economic development.A political scientist by training, my previous work has addressed public policy, regulation, and how governments generate and use information and research. My area of expertise is in constructing large data infrastructures to answer fundamental questions about public policy across time and space. My work typically emphasizes text-as-data, machine learning, and statistical modeling, especially classification.My teaching spans American politics, public policy, public administration, and research methods. My approach emphasizes an interactive classroom that brings research and data to bear in illustrating key concepts, theories, and characteristics of governing and policy systems. The goal is to help students the politics of these systems and reason through the tradeoffs and tensions inherent in governing systems, public policy, and within organizations.In the past, I have provided statistical consulting in the private sector, specializing in the grocery floral category. My work focuses on data-driven decision-making and management, custom reporting, and data-informed programming. I am a contributor at Towards Data Science, where I write on practical applications of data science and statistics. I am also one of the founding Editors of 3Streams. In addition to editorial duty, I write on rural politics and policy, including public policy in Appalachia. My popular writing on data science and rural politics and public policy has received over 16k views. I have bylines on West Virginia politics and public policy at The Charleston Gazette, The Intercept, and The Conversation with 20k reads. I am originally from Fayette County West Virginia. I enjoy rural life: mountains, rivers, fishing, gardens, and forests.

Experience

1. Professor of Political Science

   West Virginia University Eberly College Of Arts & Sciences

   Dec 2021 — Present · Morgantown, WV, US

Education

• University of Washington

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Political Science and Government

  2005 — 2009

• West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts & Sciences

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Political Science and Government

  2001 — 2003

• University of Washington

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Political Science and Government

  2003 — 2005

• West Virginia University Institute of Technology

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Human Resources Management and Services

  1997 — 2001