John A. Hird University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

John A. Hird (Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley) is professor of political science and Department Chair at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His areas of interest and expertise include policy advising, the use of science and technical knowledge in policymaking, policy analysis, and environmental policy. Prior to coming to Amherst, he served at the Brookings Institution and the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and has consulted on issues from the Massachusetts economy to regulatory reform in Japan. He is the first recipient of the Mills Award from the Policy Studies Organization for an outstanding contributor to policy studies under age 35. His books include Power, Knowledge, and Politics: Policy Analysis in the States, Controversies in American Public Policy, and Superfund: The Political Economy of Environmental Risk, and he has published articles in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Yale Journal on Regulation, Social Science Quarterly, and other professional journals.