Academic Biography

Dr. Cullen C. Merritt is an associate professor and director of the undergraduate honors program in the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He studies the implications of an organization's publicness on its management strategy and performance. Additionally, he illuminates the management competencies integral to addressing public service challenges and the strategies that enable organizations to develop these competencies. His research, teaching, and service are motivated by the desire to improve governance and empower managers to address public problems through innovative organizational design.

Dr. Merritt's research appears in Public Administration Review, The American Review of Public Administration, Public Administration, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, Public Performance & Management Review, Public Personnel Management, and numerous other outlets. His research has been nationally recognized by the American Society for Public Administration (2021 Article of the Year Award, Section on Democracy and Social Justice) and the American Political Science Association (2014 Paul Volcker Award, Public Administration Section).

As a teacher, Dr. Merritt educates current and aspiring government and nonprofit employees on the strategies and competencies needed to lead their organizations to address public problems. He has formally advised or actively mentored over 20 students on peer-reviewed research, dissertations, and honors projects. For his teaching excellence, he received the Indiana University Trustees' Teaching Award (2018), the O'Neill School's Favorite Professor of Undergraduate Programs Award (2018, 2020), the O'Neill School's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty of the Year Award (2021), and the IUPUI Athletics Favorite Professor Award (2015, 2019, 2020).

Dr. Merritt has applied his scholarly expertise to make service-related contributions to the O'Neill School, IUPUI, the public administration discipline, and the local community. Most recently, he has served as president of the IUPUI Honors College Advisory Council, an associate editor of Public Administration Review, and co-principal investigator of a contract with the City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County to evaluate its effectiveness as a governing body. For his service, he received the 2019 Advocate of the Dream Award from the IUPUI Black Student Union (BSU) for using his professional role on and off campus to serve students and members of the BSU.

A native of Texas, Dr. Merritt earned his Ph.D. in Public Administration and Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Texas A&M University.