IPA - Institute Leadership

Kimberly Aaron, Ph.D. in Public Affairs, University of Texas at Dallas.

Kimberly Aaron is the director of the Institute and a clinical assistant professor in the Public Affairs program.

She has more than 25 years of financial and operational management experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.

Prior to joining UT Dallas, Dr. Aaron was a director in the Financial Advisory Services practice at KPMG.

Douglas Watson, Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy, Auburn University.

Douglas J. Watson is a professor and directs the UT Dallas Public Affairs program.

Dr. Watson was a local government practitioner for 30 years and served as city manager of Auburn, Alabama for the last 21 years of his tenure.

He is co-editor of Local Government Management: Current Issues and Best Practices, Spending a Lifetime: The Careers of City Managers and Civic Battles: When Cities Change Their Forms of Government.

Douglas Kiel, Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Oklahoma

L. Douglas (Doug) Kiel is a professor of public affairs and administration at UT Dallas, and an adjunct professor of community medicine at UT Southwestern Medical School.

Dr. Kiel has more than 28 years of experience as a consultant, trainer and guest speaker to government and business organizations. He trains local government management and staff through the Certified Public Management program, and provides management training to medical doctors through an alliance between UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical School.

He also trains numerous corporate executives, across the United States, through the UT Dallas Leadership Center, where he serves as academic director.