Malik R. Watkins
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Public Service Associate
Governmental Services and Research
706.201.2296
watkinscviog.uga.edu

Dr. Watkins provides technical assistance and applied research for a wide variety of constituents. He manages the Public Policy Notes series, which provides independent and objective analysis in a wide range of policy arenas. Watkins’s primary focus is on planning, program/policy evaluation and analysis, program development, affordable housing, operational audits and project management. He formerly served as director of the Survey Research Center at Savannah State University, where he applied survey research to citizen and client satisfaction studies for governmental agencies. He also served as a faculty member within a public administration/urban studies program providing graduate level instruction on strategies of systematic inquiry, quantitative analysis, geographic information systems, housing and community development. In collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he also established an environmental entrepreneurship training program that focuses on the application of geographic information systems.

Dr. Watkins was an early recipient of a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding dissertation research on the effectiveness of community and faith-based organizations in community development, and regularly contributes to socioeconomic research on diverse populations. He currently serves as an academic advisor to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, chair of the Historic District Review Board (city of Savannah), and chair of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coastal Empire along with volunteering on several other local boards and committees. Dr. Watkins earned a Ph.D. in City & Regional Planning from The Ohio State University and his M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. He is a graduate of the Paul Coverdell Leadership Institute.