The Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy welcomed four new faculty members in Fall 2025, the university announced Sept. 8.
The four new faculty members — Amanda Lu, Roman Rivera, Chris Warshaw and Diane Schanzenbach — bring expertise in fields including criminal justice, policing, education and state politics. The new additions come as part of a university push for new faculty to join the Capitol Campus, which houses McCourt, as it struggles to attract existing faculty.
McCourt Dean Carole Roan Gresenz said the new professors will bring valuable experience and contributions to the curriculum.
“Each of these new faculty members brings something new to the McCourt School, expanding our course offerings and areas of expertise,” Gresenz wrote to The Hoya. “Amanda, Chris, Roman and Diane all have impressive credentials and backgrounds, and I look forward to seeing their many contributions in the years ahead.”
Lu, a new assistant professor of policy and faculty director for academic programs in policy practice, comes to McCourt from Stanford University. Lu formerly taught high school math, studied education leadership and policy at Stanford and completed post-doctoral studies in public education policy while teaching in various departments at the school.
Lu said she is excited to work at the Capitol Campus and wants to engage with students at an uncertain political moment.
“D.C. is a place where we’re learning a lot about what government has historically done and what it will do in the future,” Lu told The Hoya. “It’s a place of deep uncertainty, but it’s also a place of possibility. What will get built out of that uncertainty and how young people will navigate it — watching that, being part of that, is really exciting to me, especially as a teacher who really believes that young people should define what the future looks like.”
Rivera, a new assistant professor of public policy, is a labor economist who recently completed a post-doctoral degree at Princeton University. Rivera, who earned a Master of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University, will focus on the economics of policing and crime with work in the McCourt Massive Data Institute, an interdisciplinary research group using data for policy analysis.
Rivera said one of his goals for future students is for them to immediately notice clickbait and misrepresentation of data in the news.
“I hope they would be able to read a clickbait article where it talks about some crazy research that found some amazing effect, and then go, ‘Yeah, that’s probably not true,’” Rivera told The Hoya. “I think that’s probably the most valuable thing that econometrics and statistical inference will give you — is to see through clickbait and lies.”
Schanzenbach, the new McCourt chair, brings experience as a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and as a member of the National Academy of Education and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Schanzenbach is an economist who studies policies that target low-income children and families.
Schanzenbach said she is delighted to become a member of the McCourt community.
“I am excited to contribute to a growing, thriving intellectual environment at McCourt and at Georgetown,” Schanzenbach wrote to The Hoya. “I have really enjoyed talking with other faculty members and students about the work we are doing to better understand and design public policies. I hope to be able to find new ways for us to work together, gain from each others’ perspectives and contribute to our shared mission.”
Warshaw, a political scientist whose work focuses on elections and public representation at the city and state levels, comes to Georgetown from George Washington University’s Department of Political Science, and before that from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Warshaw, who will teach policymaking to graduate students, said he was drawn to Georgetown due to the university’s values and focus on public service.
“I’ve long admired Georgetown’s commitment to fostering public service. So I was excited about coming to work at Georgetown’s policy school and teaching students interested in making a difference in the world through public service,” Warshaw wrote to The Hoya. “I want to give students the skills to navigate the intersection of politics and the public policy process.”
Schanzenbach said Georgetown’s energy, values and local celebrities convinced her to join the school.
“I was drawn to Georgetown because of the energy of the McCourt School and Georgetown’s Jesuit values, including engagement of the whole person, free exchange of ideas and public service,” Schanzenbach said. “The only other thing I’d add is I’m really looking forward to meeting Jack the Bulldog sometime soon.”