Rui Sun

Dr. Rui Sun serves as Professor and Co-Director of the Public Policy Institute at California State University, Dominguez Hills within the College of Business Administration & Public Policy. She actively participates in professional organizations including the Southern California Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (council member) and the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (Student Engagement Committee member), and previously served as President of the China-America Association for Public Affairs (2022-2023).

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Policy Studies from the University of Maryland (2009), MPA from Auburn University (2004), and dual degrees in International Relations (M.A. and B.A.) from Peking University, China.

Dr. Sun's research centers on fiscal federalism, citizen engagement in local government budgeting, and fiscal health/sustainability of local governments, with expanding interests in social media utilization across public/nonprofit sectors and education policy innovation. Her scholarly contributions appear in leading journals including American Review of Public Administration, International Journal of Public Administration, and Public Finance Review.

She co-edited the peer-reviewed book Cases on Strategic Social Media Utilization in the Nonprofit Sector (2015) and a special issue on social media in the International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age.

As Co-Director of the Public Policy Institute, she leads research initiatives and community partnerships. Her teaching portfolio includes core courses such as PUB 510 (Public Budgeting) and PUB 582 (Public and Nonprofit Financial Management), covering financial administration, budgeting theory, and healthcare finance.