Tonya E. Thornton, Ph.D.

Dr. Tonya Thornton is the Director of Grants at the George Mason University (GMU) Schar School of Policy and Government. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Master of Public Administration program and is the Coordinator for its Emergency Management and Homeland Security graduate certificate. Dr. Thornton is a Co-Principal Investigator for the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities and is an Advisory Council Member for GMU’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth. Prior to joining GMU, Dr. Thornton was the Director for the Mississippi Public Safety Data Laboratory where she worked with the Mississippi Highway Patrol in developing computational programs to collect and analyze traffic records data in a timely, accurate, and consistent manner.

As a scholar, Dr. Thornton’s research portfolio approximates $6 million and has published her efforts on a number of peer review journals, including being a co-editor for the forthcoming Law Enforcement in Emergency Management. Dr. Thornton is an active member of the American Society for Public Administration and serves as a Viewpoint Associate Editor for Public Administration Review. Dr. Thornton has a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University, where she also earned a Master of Public Policy and Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in the Geosciences.