Martha Feldman

Martha Feldman is Professor (Joint Appointment) and the Johnson Chair for Civic Governance and Public Management at the University of California, Irvine, with appointments in the School of Social Ecology across the departments of Planning, Policy, and Design, Management, Sociology, and Political Science.

Her research focuses on organization theory and behavior, particularly organizational routines, decision-making, public management, and qualitative research methods. She investigates how performance and agency shape the creation, maintenance, and transformation of organizational phenomena.

She serves as Senior Editor of Organization Science and sits on the editorial boards of top journals including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies, Journal of Management Studies, International Public Management Journal, and Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management.

Her scholarly excellence has been recognized through multiple prestigious awards:

• Administrative Science Quarterly’s 2009 Award for Scholarly Contribution
• Academy of Management Practice Scholarship Award (2011)
• Honorary Doctorate in Economics, University of St. Gallen (2014)
• Highly Cited Researcher (Thomson Reuters, top 1% globally, 2002–2012)
• Academy of Management Distinguished Scholar (2015)
• Fellow, Academy of Management (2015)
• Keith G. Provan Award (2016)

Feldman has advised numerous PhD students and contributed extensively to empirical theory development in public and nonprofit management. She has led and participated in significant research grants related to public governance and organizational change. She is affiliated with interdisciplinary research centers promoting civic innovation and public sector effectiveness.

She is a key figure in advancing qualitative methodologies in organizational studies and continues to shape discourse in both academic and public management spheres.