I am associate professor in the Department of Pubic Policy and Public Affairs at
University of Massachusetts Boston. 

My research interests lie primarily in operations research/management science planning
models for public-sector facility location and service delivery, with applications to
subsidized/affordable housing, senior services and community corrections. I also use
cost-benefit analysis to estimate impacts of public policies and information technology
to design decision support systems. My primary mission is to develop quantitative methods
that enable public organizations serving disadvantaged and vulnerable populations to
develop programs and policies that jointly optimize economic efficiency, beneficial
social outcomes and social equity. 

I have taught courses in research methods, geographic information systems, quantitative
methods, decision support systems, operations research, cost-benefit analysis and
management information systems. I have also supervised numerous capstone project courses
at the master's and doctoral levels. 

For more information about the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at
University of Massachusetts Boston, go to
http://www.umb.edu/academics/mgs/publicpolicy_publicaffairs. 

Articles

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What is a Strategic Acquisition? Decision Modeling in Support of Foreclosed Housing Redevelopment (with Rachel B. Drew, Jeffrey Keisler, and David Turcotte), Socio-Economic Planning Sciences (available online) (2012)

This paper describes and develops a model for calculating location-based strategic values of foreclosed properties...

 

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Modeling the Longitudinality of User Acceptance of Technology with an Evidence-Adaptive Clinical Decision Support System (with Kai Zheng and Rema Padman), Decision Support Systems (in press) (2012)

This paper presents multiple innovations associated with an electronic health record system developed to support...

 

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Planning for Meals-on-Wheels: Algorithms and Application (with Hakan Yildiz and Stephen Roehrig), Journal of the Operational Research Society (in press) (2012)

Home-Delivered Meals provision, also known as Meals-on-Wheels, is a volunteer-staffed activity for which little strategic...

 

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A high spatial resolution residential energy model based on American Time Use Survey data and the bootstrap sampling method (with Yun-Shang Chiou, Kathleen M. Carley, and Cliff Davidson), Energy and Buildings (2011)

A high spatial resolution model of energy use in residential buildings was developed based on...

 

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Handling Anticipated Exceptions in Clinical Care: Investigating the Benefits and Consequences of Providing “Exit Strategies” in Computerized Clinical Information Systems (with Kai Zheng, David A. Hanauer, Rema Padman, Anwar A. Hussain, Wen Ye, Xiaomu Zhou, and Herbert S. Diamond), Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (2011)

Unpredictable yet frequently occurring exception situations pervade clinical care. Handling them properly often requires aberrant...

 

Books

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Community-Based Operations Research: Decision Modeling for Local Impact and Diverse Populations (2011)

This edited volume is an introduction to diverse methods and applications in operations research focused...

 

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Housing and Sustainable Community Development: Enhancing Minority Home Ownership, Volume One (with Harvey L. White) (2000)

The articles in this volume are from the Housing and Sustainable Community Development Track of...

 

Contributions to Books

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Decison Models for Housing and Community Development, Encyclopedia of Housing, Second Edition (accepted) (2012)

Decision science provides tools and methods to support strategy design and operations in housing and...

 

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Community-Based Operations Research: Introduction, Theory and Applications, Community-Based Operations Research: Decision Modeling for Local Impact and Diverse Populations (2011)

Community-based operations research is the name of a new sub-discipline within operations research and the...

 

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Housing and Community Development, Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science (2010)
 

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Community-Based Operations Research (with Karen Smilowitz), Tutorials in Operations Research 2007 (2007)

Community-based operations research is defined as the collection of analytical methods applied to problem domains...

 

Unpublished Papers

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Values Structuring and Strategy Design for Housing and Community Development (with Jeff Keisler, David A. Turcotte, and Rachel B. Drew) (2013)

Community development corporations (CDCs) engaged in housing acquisition and redevelopment rely on a range of...

 

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Maintain, Demolish, Re-purpose: Policy Design for Vacant Land Management using Decision Models (with Justin Hollander and Alma Hallulli) (2013)

Decline, measured in population growth rates, population levels, housing stock and economic activity, and associated...

 

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Stochastic Models for Strategic Resource Allocation in Nonprofit Foreclosed Housing Acquisitions (with Armagan Bayram and Senay Solak) (2013)

Increased rates of mortgage foreclosures in the U.S. have had devastating social and economic impacts...

 

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Property Value Impacts of Foreclosed Housing Acquisitions under Uncertainty (with Senay Solak, Rachel B. Drew, and Jeffrey Keisler) (2013)

Community development corporations seek to stabilize neighborhoods affected by the recent foreclosure crisis through acquisition...

 

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Reconstructing Neighborhoods: Case Studies in Foreclosed Housing Acquisition and Redevelopment by Community Development Corporations (with David A. Turcotte, Emily Vidrine, Rachel B. Drew, and Felicia M. Sullivan) (2012)

Community development corporations play a central role in addressing the foreclosed housing crisis in America’s...

 

Presentations

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Decision Modeling for Local Housing Development: ‘Strategic Value’ and other Social Impact Measures, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering research seminar series (2013)

Acquisition and redevelopment of foreclosed properties by

community organizations helps to mitigate the social

impacts...

 

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Practicum 2013 - 2014: LIFT Boston Client Well Being Study (with Lisa Kalimon, Buki Usidame, Ryan Kling, Ryan McLane, Ryan Whalen, Ana M. Sanchez, and Tanya Stepasiuk), Community-Engaged Partnerships Symposium 2013 (2013)

LIFT-Boston, a local nonprofit, and a team of UMass Boston Public Policy PhD students, have...

 

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Maintain, Demolish, Re‐purpose: Policy Design for Vacant Land Management using Decision Models (with Justin Hollander and Alma Hallulli), INFORMS National Conference (2012)

Neighborhoods, cities, regions and countries face sustained economic and population decline, due to lower population...

 

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Values, Objectives, and Decisions: Using Community-Based Operations Research for Neighborhood Redevelopment (with Rachel B. Drew, Jeffrey Keisler, and David Turcotte), Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston (2012)

In this presentation we describe an application of value-focused thinking and decision analysis to the...

 

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How Can Diversity Management Make a Difference? Massachusetts' Commonwealth Compact Initiative (with Georgianna Melendez), National Forum for Black Public Administrators - FORUM 2012 (2012)

Commonwealth Compact is a unique membership-driven diversity initiative. Commonwealth Compact combines a practitioner focus on...

 

Other

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Michael Johnson Research Profile (2012)

This document summarizes my disciplinary training and my research products.

 

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Public Policy PhD program 2012 policies and procedures manual (draft) (2012)

Policies and procedures manual for the Public Policy PhD program, Department of Public Policy and...

 

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Project Website: Decision Models for Foreclosed Housing Acquisition and Redevelopment (with Senay Solak, David Turcotte, Jeffrey Keisler, Rachel B. Drew, Armagan Bayram, and Emily Vidrine) (2012)