Sebastian Jilke is the Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. He also co-directs BGL — the Better Government Lab — a joint research center of Georgetown's McCourt School and the Ford School at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jilke is also affiliated with the Office of Evaluation Sciences, and was an academic research affiliate with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
His research focuses on government reform, citizen-state interactions, and program evaluation in the context of improving economic mobility through enhanced state capacity. He uses rigorous evaluation methods to understand how institutional arrangments, administrative processes and program design affect citizen experiences and outcomes. Some of his current work specifically examines the social safety net, testing interventions designed to reduce administrative burdens.
Professor Jilke has directly worked with and provided advise to a wide range of organizations, including the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Department of Treasury/ IRS, and the General Services Administration, as well as nonprofit/advocacy organizations such as the Equal Rights Center, Code for America, or NAVA and international organizations such as OECD and The World Bank. He has presented research to policymakers at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council, the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has also directly contributed to OMB policy guidance.
Since 2022, Sebastian serves as co-editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM). Prior to that, he co-founded the Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, a not-for-profit, open-access journal, and served as JBPA’s editor-in-chief until 2021. Jilke is also co-editor of Experiments In Public Management Research: Challenges and Contributions (Cambridge University Press). In 2017, he received the Beryl Radin Award for the best article published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART).
Sebastian is an avid and accomplished whitewater kayaker who has navigated multiple Class V rivers, including Great Falls of the Potomac. He is passionate about the sport and volunteers as a kayaking instructor in his spare time. Born in Germany, Sebastian received his master’s in public administration from Zeppelin University (Germany), and PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam (the Netherlands).
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy