Dr. Gabel Taggart

Academic Areas of Expertise:

Public and Nonprofit Management, Effective Altruism 

Biography:

Dr. Taggart is an assistant professor and has worked at the University of Wyoming since 2018 in the Master of Public Administration program. He coordinates the nonprofit concentration in the MPA program and serves as the internship director for SPPAIS. Dr. Taggart is also the board chair for the Wyoming Nonprofit Network – the state’s official association of nonprofits.

Dr. Taggart’s primary research focus is writing a book on the pedagogy of altruism, which examines how we teach and learn about philanthropy and doing in good in society. This project is an extension of some of his ongoing and previous research on experiential philanthropy and demographic trends in philanthropy.  In particular, one project has been examining the philanthropy and perspectives of religious disaffiliates – people who leave religion and also take with them their charitable contributions, which amounts to $10’s of billions of dollars per year that are no longer being sent to churches.  Another project tested the effects on students of short-term experiential philanthropy lessons, in which benefactors sponsor money for a class to research and provide recommendations to the benefactor on how and where they might donate it. Dr. Taggart also has projects on existential and globally catastrophic risks, conceptual work on how we evaluate nonprofit organizations, a project on legitimacy and strategic planning, and a planned project on the history of philanthropy in Wyoming.

Dr. Taggart’s research has appeared in various public administration, public policy, and nonprofit journals, including: Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Public Performance & Management Review, Journal of Public & Nonprofit Affairs, Journal of Philanthropy & Marketing, Evaluation & Program Planning, Public Administration, Environmental Science & Policy, Global Policy, Sociological Inquiry, Social Science Quarterly,  Journal of Public Affairs Education, Innovative Higher Education, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and American Journal of Online Education.

Dr. Taggart has taught a variety of classes in public administration and nonprofit management such as the MPA Capstone, Empirical Analysis, Survey of the Nonprofit Sector, Strategic Planning, Program Evaluation & Policy Analysis, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Evaluation, Leadership, Public Management, Organizational Behavior, and Public Personnel Management. Iin 2023, Dr. Taggart was the winner of the university wide Hollon Family Award for excellence in online education.

Current Research Projects:

Right now, I am open to graduate students who are interested in working on the two following research projects: 1) an examination of dissent among employees of public lands agencies in the Western US, and 2) studies of giving behavior through the lens of effective altruism in both the US and Brazil.

Fun Facts from Gabel:

Dr. Taggart enjoys watching (Go Pokes!) and playing basketball and ultimate frisbee. His favorite TV show is Survivor.  Dr. Taggart grew up in the mountain west and appreciates all the outdoor access that public lands provide for biking, hiking, and river rafting.