Donald Moynihan, holder of the inaugural McCourt Chair at the McCourt School of Public Policy, is a world-renowned scholar dedicated to improving how government works. His research examines the behavioural effects of efforts to improve public sector outcomes through government reform, as well as the administrative burdens people encounter in their interactions with government. 

Moynihan has presented his research on public sector performance to policymakers at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the World Bank and the OECD, as well as governments all around the world (including in NZ and Australia in 2018). He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Hill and other venues and is a prolific and popular tweeter (https://twitter.com/donmoyn). He previously served as the Director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford and Aarhus University. He is past president of the Public Management Research Association, and a member of the National Academy of Public Administration.