American Political Science Association Presents National Honor to Rutgers–Camden MPA Graduate

For Immediate Release

CAMDEN --  Pennsauken resident Jason Rivera, a 2008 graduate of the master of public policy and administration (MPA) program at Rutgers–Camden, has been named as an American Political Science Association Minority Fellow for 2009-10.

The two-year, $4,000 award supports top students entering PhD programs in political science.  Rivera’s award is the first presented to a graduate of the Rutgers–Camden MPA program, the only program in the metro Philadelphia region to hold accreditation by NASPAA (the National Association of School of Public Affairs and Administration).

Rivera, 25, currently serves as a research associate at the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, where he facilitates academic and professional research that serves the public as well as the scholarly community.  He is the co-author of the book Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of Landscape (2008, Rowman & Littlefield), which earned the 2008 Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award from the Mid-South Sociological Association.  He is the lead editor on the forthcoming book Minority Resiliency and the Legacy of Disaster (Edwin Mellen Press).  He also is the co-editor on two other forthcoming books, and has co-authored a number of research articles that have appeared in scholarly journals.

While pursuing his MPA degree, Rivera conducted research with the Sen. Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers–Camden.  In 2006, he received his bachelor’s degree in history from Rowan University, where he was a Dean’s List student.  In 2002, he served as Hispanic activities coordinator at Camden Academy Charter High School.

Rivera intends to pursue a PhD in political science with emphasis on the areas of social and public policy, with the goal of becoming a university professor.

A 2001 graduate of Pennsauken High School, Rivera is the son of Andrea and Edwin Rivera, both of Pennsauken.

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