CPG Faculty and Staff
Director
Veronica "Ronnye" Vargas Stidvent is the director of the Center for Politics and Governance.
She previously served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she provided advice and counsel to the Secretary of Labor on the vast array of labor issues that affect the American worker, including immigration reform, worker health and safety, and job training.
Her office was responsible for the management and implementation of policy development, regulations, program implementation, compliance assistance strategies, program evaluations, research, budget and performance analysis, and legislation. Prior to her appointment as assistant secretary, Stidvent served in the White House as special assistant to the president for policy, where she helped develop policy on a wide range of issue areas, including labor, education, justice, homeland security, and regulatory reform.
Before that, she served as a policy adviser in Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In that position, she provided counsel on federal regulatory policy and coordinated the implementation of new rules with the federal agencies and senior White House officials.
A native of El Paso, Stidvent received her B.A. in the Plan II Honors Program and American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was honored as a Dean's Distinguished Graduate. After earning her law degree at Yale, she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Sidney Fitzwater, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She served on the University Texas Commission of 125, a group of citizens convened to express a vision of how the University of Texas can best serve Texas and society during the next 25 years. She was also honored by the National Association of Hispanic Publishers as a Latina Role Model.
Email Veronica Vargas Stidvent
Director of Research
Paul Stekler is the director of research for the Center for Politics and Governance and the George Christian Centennial Professor of Communication. Stekler is a nationally recognized documentary filmmaker whose critically praised and award-winning work includes "George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire," (Film, 2000); "Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style," (Film, 2004); "Vote for Me: Politics in America," (Film, 1996) a four-hour PBS special about grassroots electoral politics; two segments of the "Eyes on the Prize II" series on the history of civil rights; "Last Stand at Little Big Horn," (Film, 2004) broadcast as part of PBS's "The American Experience" series; and "Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics" (Film, 1992) broadcast on PBS's "P.O.V." series. Overall, his films have won two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards, and three national Emmy Awards. Dr. Stekler also has a doctorate in government from Harvard University, where his work focused on Southern politics.
His latest film project was co-producing and writing Frontline's "The Choice," about the 2008 presidential campaign, which aired on PBS in October 2008. Dr. Stekler regularly co-teaches the Center's course "The Modern American Political Campaign."
Email Paul Stekler
Professor of Public Affairs and Fellow
Ben Sasse was nominated by President Bush and unanimously confirmed by the Democratic Senate to the fourth-ranking position in the federal government’s largest agency. At HHS, Sasse led policy, strategic planning, and research functions across the Department's eleven operating divisions. He focused especially on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Food and Drug Administration.
He teaches public policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. His research on the politics and economics of American healthcare looks at efforts to modernize payment systems, to migrate from "paying for more" to "paying for better" in ways that will stimulate entrepreneurial innovation from doctors, hospitals, and adjacent industries. Previously, he served as a chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives and as the chief of staff of the Office of Legal Policy, the internal think-tank of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Sasse began his career with the Boston Consulting Group and has advised a wide variety of organizations at moments of strategic crisis – working with airlines, utilities, manufacturers, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the government of Iraq, and a number of nonprofit and educational institutions. He now advises private equity and other investor clients on health sector strategy.
A Nebraska native, he was educated at Harvard, Oxford, and St. John's before receiving his Ph.D. from Yale, where his dissertation on domestic politics during the Cold War won the Theron Rockwell Field (best dissertation) and the George Washington Egleston (history) Prizes. He writes regularly on health business issues for publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily.
Email Benjamin Sasse
Professor of Government and Fellow
Professor Buchanan's specialties include the presidency, American politics, American national institutions, and federal public policy. He is a presidential scholar and a political analyst whose commentary on the presidency and American politics appears in national and international print and broadcast news media. He served as the director of research for the Markle Foundation studies of the 1988, 1992, and 1996 presidential elections. His presidency research is concerned with how to make the institution both more effective and more democratic. This concern is reflected in each of his books, which include The Presidential Experience (Prentice- Hall, 1978), The Citizen's Presidency (Congressional Quarterly, 1987), Electing A President (Texas, 1991), Renewing Presidential Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), The State of the Presidency (ed. LBJ School/Library 2002), Presidential Campaign Quality (Prentice- Hall, 2004) and The Policy Partnership (Routledge, 2004). He is currently conducting research on how Americans judge presidents, and is writing a book on presidential accountability. A chapter from that book entitled "Presidential Accountability for Wars of choice," is available
here.
Email Bruce Buchanan
Lecturer and Fellow
CPG Fellow Sherri Greenberg leads the Center's State Politics and Policy Initiative. Professor Greenberg served for 10 years as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, completing her final term in January 2001. In 1999, she was appointed by the Speaker of the House to chair the House Pensions and Investments Committee and to chair the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance. She served two terms on the House Appropriations Committee, and served on the Appropriations Committee's Education, and Major Information Systems Subcommittees. Other committee assignments included the House Economic Development Committee, Elections Committee, and Science and Technology Committee.
Greenberg's professional background is in public finance. She served as the Manager of Capital Finance for the City of Austin from 1985 to 1989, overseeing the City's debt management, capital budgeting, and capital improvement programs. Prior to that she worked as a Public Finance Officer for Standard & Poor's Corporation in New York, where she analyzed and assigned bond ratings to public projects across the country.
Greenberg has a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.S. in Public Administration and Policy from the London School of Economics. Her teaching and research interests include public finance and budgeting, Texas state government, local government, education, housing, technology, and campaigns and elections. Her recent publications include "State E-Government Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications," and "Beyond the Bid: An Evaluation of State and Local Government Procurement Practices." Currently, Greenberg serves as a board member and treasurer of Austin Voices for Education and Youth, and she is an appointed member of the City of Austin General Obligation Housing Bond Review Committee.
Email Sherri Greenberg
Adjunct Professor and Fellow
As the former counselor to President George W. Bush, Dan Bartlett was responsible for all aspects of strategic communications planning, the formulation of policy, and the implementation of the administration's agenda.
During his six and half years at the White House, Bartlett oversaw the White House Press Office and the Offices of Communications, Media Affairs, and Speechwriting. He played a key role in developing and executing the President's domestic and foreign policy agenda, and traveled extensively with President Bush to more than forty countries, participating in high-level talks with heads of state, prime ministers, and government representatives. President Bush relied on Bartlett for his policy judgment, which enabled him to develop successful campaigns to reform public schools, pass major tax relief, and begin diversifying America's sources of energy.
In addition, Bartlett played a lead role in launching a global communications strategy as the U.S. responded to the attacks on September 11, 2001. Specifically, he worked with the Department of Defense to give journalists unprecedented access to the men and women fighting the war and provide the American people with a unique perspective on the conduct of major military operations.
Since 1993, when he was twenty-two, Bartlett has been a valuable aid to Bush, beginning with his work on both successful gubernatorial campaigns. From 1994 to 1998, he worked in the governor's office as deputy to the policy director, and during the 1998 reelection campaign, he served as issues director. Following this, Bartlett served as a senior spokesman and the director of rapid response for the Bush for President campaign in Austin, Texas, work that would eventually lead to the White House.
Bartlett became the assistant to the president for communications and then vaulted to White House communications director. Before he was appointed communications director, he was deputy assistant to the president and deputy to then-counselor to the president, Karen Hughes. After her retirement, Bartlett assumed the duty, and went on to build a bridge of communication between the executive office and the news media.
Texas Monthly magazine once described Bartlett as "the linchpin of the most far-reaching, tough-minded, and technologically advanced government communications operation in history." Bartlett's colleagues have lauded his belief that the American people deserve to know as much as possible and are capable of taking "the good with the bad." White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten noted, "His title [was] Counselor to the President, but he's been much more than that." Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove added, "Dan is somebody who has a very good relationship with the president that allows him to be shockingly and sincerely direct. There aren't a lot of those."
Email Dan Bartlett
Adjunct Professor and Fellow
Ray Martinez teaches the Center's course, "Election Law and Policy." He currently serves as director of government relations for Rice University, where his responsibilities include coordination of the university's legislative priorities and extensive interaction with government officials at the state and federal level. Previously, Martinez operated a public policy and government relations law firm and concurrently served as a policy advisor on election issues for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Martinez has extensive experience in the public sector. Most recently, he served as a commissioner and vice chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan federal agency responsible for assisting state and local governments to improve the process of election administration.
During the Clinton administration, Martinez held several key posts, including: deputy assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs; regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and special assistant to the president in the White House Office of Political Affairs. Prior to his service in the federal government, Martinez worked for the Texas Attorney General's office and as legislative aide for state Representative Sylvester Turner.
Martinez has spoken extensively to national and international organizations on topics including health care, education and election reform. He has lectured at continuing legal education forums, keynoted numerous conferences and symposiums, and been interviewed extensively by media outlets including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Martinez has published commentaries in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun and Roll Call, and in 2006 published an academic commentary on improving voter confidence in Election Law Journal. Martinez formerly served as chairman of the executive board for the Overseas Vote Foundation, a nonpartisan organization working to improve the voting experience for uniformed and civilian American citizens living and working abroad.
A native of Alice, Texas, Martinez received his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and his bachelor's degree from Southwestern University.
Email Ray Martinez III
Research Fellow
Jeffery R. Patterson is the assistant dean for administration at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an ABD doctoral candidate in journalism and political communication in the College of Communications (expected completion fall 2009). He has more than 20 years experience in political communications and institutional public relations management.
For eight years he worked in the U.S. Congress as a deputy press secretary for U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen and as communications director for U.S. Congressman Michael A. Andrews. As a newspaper journalist, Patterson won awards for news reporting, feature writing, and newspaper and magazine design from the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the Texas Press Association, the Society for Technical Communication and the Council for the Advancement of Science Education.
In 2005, while a program officer at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, he was awarded a Lone Star Emmy Award as executive producer of the PBS documentary "Are the Kids Alright? Tales of Mental Health Services in Texas." He teaches course in public affairs communications, writing for the mass media, and public relations management. His research interests include public affairs media, the evolution of global information and communication networks, and the role of media in social constructions of collective memory and public consciousness.
Email Jeffery Patterson
Fellow
Wayne Slater is senior political writer for The Dallas Morning News. He was appointed to his new position after serving 15 years as Austin bureau chief for the News. He has appeared on numerous network television shows and is coauthor of the New York Times best seller, Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, published by John Wiley & Sons.
Slater has reported on a variety of political and public figures, including Pope John Paul II and Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. He traveled for 16 months full-time covering the presidential campaign of George W. Bush. He has covered every Republican and Democratic national convention since 1988, seven sessions of the Texas Legislature, and the administrations of Texas Governors Bill Clements, Ann Richards, George W. Bush, and Rick Perry. He has appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN's "Crossfire" and "Inside Politics," ABC's "Nightline" and "Good Morning America," C-Span, National Public Radio and Fox News' "The Beltway Boys" and "The O'Reilly Factor." He was also featured in the film documentary about the 2000 Bush presidential campaign, "Journeys with George," which appeared on HBO. His book, Bush's Brain, has been made into a feature documentary.
Slater began his journalism career as a reporter with the Parkersburg (W.Va.) Sentinel. Before joining The Dallas Morning News, he worked for the Associated Press in West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, and Colorado.
He earned an undergraduate degree at West Virginia University and attended graduate school in journalism at Ohio University.
Email Wayne Slater
Program Coordinator
Margaret Ruff Temple is the Program Coordinator for the Center for Politics and Governance at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Margaret graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988 with a B.A. in the Plan II Honors Program.
Margaret's background is in event coordinating, project management and donor cultivation. She previously worked at Andrew Harper Travel where she managed various projects related to networking and managing strategic partnerships such as Young Presidents Organization. Margaret has also worked for the University of Texas System Chancellor and the University of Texas at Austin Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and served as Parade Coordinator for the State of Texas Rededication Celebration and Move Coordinator for the Texas State Capitol Restoration and Extension project.
Margaret serves on the Texas State History Museum Foundation Board and has participated in many volunteer projects in Austin including the Austin Children's Museum, Lifeworks of Austin, Dell Children's Hospital and St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
Email Margaret Ruff Temple
Administrative Associate
Vanessa Stotts is the administrative associate for the Center for Politics and Governance at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. In 2007, Vanessa graduated with her M.A. in politics and religion from the Claremont School of Theology. At Claremont she studied the how religious rhetoric influences the salience of a population toward political decisions. During her Master’s program she had the incredible opportunity to research for her thesis in Paris, France, while learning French.
Vanessa's background includes research projects such as working with the Methodist Church in Santa Ana, CA on a community analysis and helping them identify their new role in the community. She interned for the Narrative Pedagogy Project, developing a program to teach children about cultures to increase tolerance, and has worked for the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center as well as the Moore Multicultural Center at the Claremont School of Theology. She has worked with non-profits such as the Hill Country Children’s Theater on business management and strategic planning.
Vanessa earned a dual B.A. in 2005 in history and world religions from the University of Texas at Austin and was awarded the Neil and Elaine Griffin Scholarship for her studies. She hopes to start her doctorate studies in Fall 2010.
Email Vanessa Stotts
