Aimee Williamson, PhD

Biography

Dr. Aimee L. Williamson serves as Associate Dean of Graduate Programs of the Sawyer Business School (SBS). In this role, she oversees our graduate portfolio and coordinates efforts to strategically advance programs, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and respond to evolving student and market needs.

Approaching two decades at Suffolk University, Dr. Williamson has held numerous leadership roles, including serving as Chair of Public Service and Healthcare Administration and as Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program. She has also led a wide range of departmental, school, and university committees and initiatives, advancing academic programs, curriculum innovation, faculty life and governance, and strategic planning. Highlights include chairing or co-chairing the university's Parallel Academic Innovation strategic planning committee, the Public Policy Hub steering committee, and the SBS Teaching Committee, which included leading the redesign of the SBS course evaluation instrument.

An educator committed to experiential and practice-based learning, Dr. Williamson teaches courses in leadership, organizational behavior, strategic management, and public administration. While her primary teaching responsibilities are in the MPA program, she has also taught undergraduate business courses, led the EMBA Washington Policy Seminar for the past decade, and teaches in our Executive Education programs. She is a Trained Facilitator and Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Coach through The Leadership Challenge, an evidence-based leadership framework grounded in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

Dr. Williamson's scholarship examines distinctions in public-private management, cross-sector collaboration, and administrative reform. Her work has appeared in leading public affairs journals, pedagogical publications, and teaching cases. She recently co-edited, with Distinguished Research Professor Marc Holzer, Public and Nonprofit Management in Practice: A Case Study Collection.

Her professional experience and service include work with organizations in child advocacy, criminal justice, and healthcare.

Professional Activities

• Editorial Board Member, American Review of Public Administration (ARPA)

Publications

Recent Intellectual Contributions

Journal Articles

Douglas, M., Holtzen, S., Ruane, S., Sherman, K., & Williamson, A. (Forthcoming). Abrupt policy reversal amid Black Lives Matter: Starbucks’ grande employee dress code problem. The CASE Journal.

Williamson, A. L. & Wang, I.G. (2023). Redesigning a course evaluation instrument: Experience, practical guidance, and lessons learned. Journal of Management Education, 47(4), 388-416.

Wang, G. & Williamson, A. (2022). Course evaluation scores: Valid measures for teaching effectiveness or rewards for lenient grading? Teaching in Higher Education, 27(3), 297-318.

Williamson, A. (2019). From ideology to evidence: Publicness, organizational functioning, and school teaching climates. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 29 (2): 364-367.

Dumas, C., Foley, S., Hunt, P., Weisman, M. & Williamson, A. (2015). Accelerating collaboration to find a cure: A nonprofit’s evolving business model. The CASE Journal, 11(1): 58-95.

Snow, D. & Williamson, A. (2015). Accountability and micromanagement: Decentralized budgeting in Massachusetts school districts. Public Administration Quarterly, 39(2):220-258.

Williamson, A. & Bond, B. (2014). Making Boston strong: Social capital, collaboration, and accountability lessons for public administrators in the twenty-first century. Public Administration Review, 74(6): 693-695.

Williamson, A. & Snow, D. (2014). From accountability to decision-making? Budgeting with mandated performance measures. International Journal of Public Administration, 37(4): 202-214.

Williamson, A. & Snow, D. (2013). Bridging theory and practice: The landscape of public management reforms in local school district budgeting. Public Performance and Management Review, 37(1): 154-187.

Williamson, A. (2011). Assessing the Core and Dimensional Approaches: Human Resource Management in Public, Private, and Charter Schools. Public Performance and Management Review, 35(2): 251-280.

Book

Williamson, A.L. & Holzer, M. (Eds.). (2026). Public Administration and Nonprofit Management in Practice: A Case Study Collection. London: Routledge.

Published Cases

Holtzen, S., Ruane, S., Williamson, A., Sherman, K., and Douglas, M. (2025). “One Day Longer, One Day Stronger”: The Nanny Leads a Labor Strike. The CASE Journal, 21(6): 1367-1378.

Holtzen, S., Williamson A., Sherman, K., Douglas, M. Ruane, S. (2023). Corporate policy or CEO activism? Citigroup’s stance on reproductive healthcare in the United States. The CASE Journal, 20(6): 1398-1422.

Douglas, M., Holtzen, S., Ruane, S., Sherman, K., & Williamson, A. (2021). Abrupt policy reversal amid Black Lives Matter: Starbucks’ grande employee dress code problem. The CASE Journal, 17(5): 673-690.

Dumas, C., Foley, S., Hunt, P., Weisman, M. & Williamson, A. (2015). Accelerating collaboration to find a cure: A nonprofit’s evolving business model. The CASE Journal, 11(1): 58-95.