Ph.D., Rutgers University - Camden (2016, Public Affairs)
M.S., Rutgers University - Camden (2015, Public Affairs)
M.P.A. Rutgers University - Camden (2008, Public Management)
B.A. Rowan University (2006, History)
Jason D. Rivera is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Management. He is also an affiliated faculty of the the Master of Science Program in Emergency Management and an affiliated research faculty of The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies (RaCERS). His research focuses on social equity, governance, public administration theory, disaster and emergency management, interorganizational collaboration, and research design. Over the course of his career, he has focused on investigating the experiences of minority and historically marginalized groups related to disaster and emergency management, in addition to factors affecting these groups’ disaster preparedness and recovery.
Rivera’s continuing research agenda is dedicated to enhancing social equity in emergency and disaster management policy, but public administration practices and policy more broadly. Along these lines, Rivera advocates for more inclusive disaster planning and governance processes within emergency management and public administration. Examples of his work can be found in academic journals, such as Public Administration Review (PAR), State and Local Government Review, the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, and Natural Hazards Review just to name a few. Moreover, Rivera has won various awards for his research and academic writing, such as the Lavern Burchfield Award (2024), the William Petak Award (2024, 2019 & 2017), the State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creativity (2020), and The Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award (2008).
Rivera has lead, designed and/or participated in a variety of interdisciplinary projects related to emergency and disaster management, both domestically and abroad. Internationally, he has served on projects supported by U.S. Department of State that evaluated the capacity and infrastructure of emergency management and supporting agencies in El Salvador, which resulted in the professional development of trainings for emergency management and supporting personnel in El Salvador. Rivera has also completed similar team assessment work on emergency management organizations and systems in The Gambia. Due to his international experiences, Rivera was appointed to be a Fulbright Specialist in 2023.
Finally, Rivera currently serves as the Chair of the Section for Emergency and Crisis Management (SECM) within the American Society for Public Administration and an Executive Board Member of the Section of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Programs within the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).
ESA 215 Emergency Incident Management
PAD 705 - Organizational Theory and Management
PMT 711 - Introduction to Emergency Management
PAD 715 - Research Methods in Public Administration
PAD 797 - Faculty Mentored Research
SEC 798 - Faculty Mentored Research
American Society of Public Administration (ASPA)
American Society of Public Administration's Section on Emergency and Crisis Management (SECM)
Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)
Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration's Section of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Programs
Books:
Rivera, Jason D. (Ed.). (2021). Disaster and Emergency Management Methods: Social Science Approaches in Application. New York, NY: Routledge.
Nickels, Ashley E. and Jason D. Rivera (Eds.). (2018). Community Development and Public Administration: Empowering Communities through the Enhancement of Democratic Principles. New York, NY: Routledge.
Miller, DeMond S. and Jason D. Rivera (Eds.). (2011). Comparative Emergency Management: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Miller, DeMond S. and Jason D. Rivera (Eds.). (2010). Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Rivera, Jason D. and DeMond S. Miller (Eds.). (2010). How Ethnically Marginalized Americans Cope With Catastrophic Disasters: Studies in Suffering and Resiliency. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Miller, DeMond S. and Jason D. Rivera. (2008). Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of Landscape. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Selected Articles:
Thompson, D. and Jason D. Rivera. (2024). A Sustainable Post-Conflict Stabilization Framework: Applying Lessons from Afghanistan. International Journal of Public Administration, https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2024.2341424.
Rivera, Jason D. (2023). Factors Influencing the Development of Household Emergency Plans Among Latinos: A Study of Latinos in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 44(3), 175-195. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863231182470.
Knox, Claire C. and Jason D. Rivera. (2023). Inclusionary Emergency Management Planning: Floridian Emergency Management Planners’ Orientations and Perceptions. State and Local Government Review, 55(3). 192-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X231171731
Rivera, Jason D. (2023). Trust in Government Actors and COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Among Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 89, 103627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103627.
Rivera, Jason D. and Claire Connolly Knox. (2023). Bureaucratic discretion, social equity, and the administrative legitimacy dilemma: Complications of New Public Service. Public Administration Review, 83(1), 65-77.
Rivera, Jason D. and Claire C. Knox. (2023). Defining Social Equity in Emergency Management: A Critical First Step in the Nexus. Public Administration Review, 83(5), 1170-1185. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13574.
Leach, Kirk and Jason D. Rivera. (2021). Dismantling Power Asymmetries in Disaster and Emergency Management Research: Another Argument for the Application of Critical Theory. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 1-19, https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12243.
Rivera, Jason D. and Molly Ranahan. (2022). Planners’ Role Orientations and Public Participation: A Baseline Assessment in Understanding Why the Public Continues to be Excluded. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 37(2), 164.
Wilson, Meghan, Prentiss A. Dantzler and Jason D. Rivera. (2022). Managed Racial Capitalism: Understanding the Bureaucratic State’s Racialized Practices in Detroit, MI. Journal of Public Management & Social Policy, 29(1), 48-66.
Rivera, Jason D. (2022). Factors influencing preparedness self-efficacy among Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. Disaster Prevention and Management. 31(4), 475-490.
Dantzler, Prentiss A. and Jason D. Rivera. (2021). Constructing Identities of Deservedness: Public Housing and Post-WWII Economic Planning Efforts. Law and Inequality, 39(2), 443-479.
Rivera, Jason D. (2021). Factors Influencing Individual Disaster Preparedness Information Seeking Behavior: An Analysis of U.S. Households. Natural Hazards Review, 22(4), https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000510.
Rivera, Jason D. and Andrew Uttaro. (2021). The Manifestation of New Public Service Principles in Small-Town Government: A Case Study of Grand Island, New York. State and Local Government Review, 53(1), 89-100.
Rivera, Jason D., Atta Ceesay, Aminata Sillah. (2020). Challenges to Disaster Risk Management in The Gambia: A Preliminary Investigation of the Disaster Management System’s Structure. Progress in Disaster Science, 6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100075
Rivera, Jason D. and *Alexis Willard. (2019). Humanitarian Logistics: A Case Study of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. International Journal of Emergency Management, 15(2), 166-186.
Rivera, Jason D. (2019). When Attaining the Best Sample is Out of Reach: Nonprobability Alternatives When Engaging in Public Administration Research. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 25(3), 314-342.
Rivera, Jason D. (2019). Focus Group Administration in Disaster Research: Methodological Transparency when Dealing with Challenges. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 37(3), 241-263.
Rivera, Jason D. and Zachary D. Wood. (2016). Disaster Relief Volunteerism: Evaluating Cities Planning for the Usage and Management of Spontaneous Volunteers. Journal of Emergency Management. 14(2), 127-138.
Rivera, Jason D. and Ashley E. Nickels. (2014). Social Capital, Community Resilience, and Faith-Based Organizations in Disaster Recovery: A Case Study of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy. 5(2). pp. 178-211.
Guest-Edited Journal Symposiums:
Hamideh, Sara, Sabine Loos, Jason Rivera, Alessandra Jerolleman, Heather Champeau, and Haorui Wu (Guest Editors). (2023). Longitudinal Recovery. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 41(1).
Jason D. Rivera and Kirk A. Leach (Guest Editors). (2023). The Time Has Come: Broadly Integrating Critical Race Theory as an Analytic Lens in Public and Nonprofit Management. Public Integrity, 25(3).