How do the decisions leaders make—and the choices you make based on those decisions—affect the quality of life where you live? Paul H. O’Neill Professor Douglas Noonan is working to answer those questions.

“I’m an economist who studies how people make decisions in a world full of constraints,” he says.

Noonan analyzes environmental, urban, and cultural policies and the impact they have on people, whether it’s how clean places are, where parks are located, how cities approach infrastructure, or even what influences an area’s cultural scene.

“A lot of my research looks at the environment we construct—not just what nature gives us,” Noonan explains. “How do we maintain or improve the environment we’ve built for ourselves? How does it adapt? What does it support for arts and culture and other parts of urban life?”

His wide-ranging work has focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the arts, how the green building movement has been spurred on by private businesses, and—most recently—how communities are trying to manage and adapt to increasing flood risk amid climate change.

His focus on urban policy was a natural fit for the O’Neill School. The Indianapolis campus’ urban location—combined with the school’s standing in the public affairs field—is what made it the ideal place for him to both research and teach.

“O’Neill has an incredible reputation and is such a fantastic place,” he says. “Its scale and skill are unparalleled in my world.”

Noonan says that reputation is just one of many reasons students should come to O’Neill.

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O’Neill Professor Jerome Dumortier is looking into the future. Not through a crystal ball, but through practices rooted in science and data.

Dumortier says he wants to help society overcome sustainability challenges ranging from food production and environmental degradation to climate change and energy use. Using simulation models, he can look at those topics through the lens of future economic impact.

His most recent research examined the effects of the war in Ukraine on climate change, crop prices, and food shortages. The findings can help leaders create policies now that could help offset those future consequences, especially for vulnerable groups. He’s now working on a new project to see how increased electric vehicle use in the United States will impact farmers who produce corn for ethanol and the ripple effects that will have for American consumers.

Having that kind of far-reaching impact is what attracted Dumortier to O’Neill in the first place. He says O’Neill gives him the chance to educate the next generation of leaders while also doing applied policy research in an interdisciplinary environment.

“My professor once said that research should be to the benefit of society,” he explains. “Here at O’Neill, that’s exactly what we are doing.”

Dumortier shares his take on why sustainability matters, how O’Neill helps prepare students to take on those challenges, and why he enjoys the combination of research and teaching at O’Neill.

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