Romney Institute Welcomes New Faculty Member

Before Eva Witesman had even moved into her office, she already had faculty members making her feel a part of the program with friendly knocks on the door, Christmas cards and lunch dates.

“I had never really been here before; I just didn’t know what it was like,” she said. “Once I experienced BYU, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Witesman, the newest faculty member at the Romney Institute, moved from Indiana, where she was completing a Ph.D. at the University of Indiana-Bloomington. Although she will be finishing up her doctoral dissertation this semester, Witesman says she is excited to be teaching classes and to become fully integrated.

David Hart, director of the Romney Institute of Public Management, says although it’s unusual to hire a person so early on in their doctoral programs, she was unanimously voted as a top candidate by the faculty.

“She already had established a very impressive research record,” Hart says. “She consistently presents at national conferences and publishes in the field’s top journals. Needless to say, she exceeded our rather high expectations.”

Hart adds that her energy and enthusiasm is already rubbing off into her courses.

This semester, Witesman is teaching statistics, replacing Gloria Wheeler who taught for more than 30 years. Witesman said her experience in quantitative methods has prepared her for this perfect fit at BYU. She worked hard training herself in quantitative methods so she would be well qualified in this arena.

“Statistics is an important skill for public managers because it gives the power to ask important questions and find the answers," Witesman says. “Without this tool, our government and NGOs are severely handicapped.”

Along with statistics, Witesman will teach public program evaluation and nonprofit management courses in the fall.

Apart from just her scheduled classes, Witesman brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about the nonprofit sector that will be particularly beneficial to BYU’s MPA students — considering one-third of students graduate with a nonprofit concentration.

Some of her experience is derived from her work as a software engineer at the Waterford Institute, a nonprofit that specializes in making educational material for young children. After earning her master’s in nonprofit management from Indiana, Witesman branched out into the international world where she worked as freelance Web consultant in Finland.

Throughout her education and employment, Witesman has looked for outside events to drive her research goals. Most recently, Witesman surveyed church members in Indiana after a major flood to gauge what motivates people to serve.

Not only does Witesman have a passion for nonprofit work, but she also has research interests that branch out into a healthy mix of just about everything. An energetic mother of two and skilled professional, Witesman’s eclectic interests will be enhancing the program for years to come.

“My research interests are all over the place,” she says. “If I look at it, I can see the common threads, but it’s hard to describe to people. Really I’m kind of a curious person who has lots of questions and has been armed with the tools to answer them.”