Jae Yeon Kim

Jae Yeon Kim

Assistant Professor of Public Policy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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My research aims to make policy implementation work.

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      Hello! I am Jae.

      I am an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a non-resident Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Better Government Lab Fellow at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. I co-founded the Data for Good Roundtables.

      Previously, I worked as a Senior Data Scientist at Code for America, where I collaborated with the U.S. government to improve access to safety net programs. I also served as an Assistant Research Scientist at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where I co-developed the Mapping the Modern Agora Project. I earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

      My research focuses on the politics of policy implementation, ranging from urban policy governance to safety net benefit delivery and AI procurement in state and local governments.

      My research has been published or is forthcoming in Nature Human Behaviour, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Nature: Scientific Data, Perspectives on Politics, Studies in American Political Development, and Cambridge University Press, among others.

      I have received multiple awards from the American Political Science Association.

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      Note🎓 For Prospective PhD and UNC Students

      PhD Students: I won’t be taking students in the coming cycle (starting in Fall 2027).

      UNC graduate and undergraduate students: I cannot serve on your committee or advise on your honors thesis unless I know you well and there is a strong alignment between your topic and my research expertise. That said, if you think you could benefit from my expertise, please reach out to me by email and schedule a time during my office hours.

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