JR DeShazo is the Joel L. Fleishman Dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
DeShazo came to Duke from the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs beginning in 2021. As dean, he strengthened the LBJ School’s reputation as a center for impactful policy education and research, leading growth in enrollment, research grants, research output and academic programming.
Under DeShazo’s leadership, the LBJ School launched a new Master of National Security degree and its first undergraduate program, the Bachelor of Public Affairs. He also helped advance major investments in civic engagement, and student learning, including a $10 million gift in 2023 that created the Patman Center for Civic and Political Engagement.
At Duke, DeShazo leads one of the nation’s oldest and largest public policy programs. Founded in 1971 as the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs by Terry Sanford (then president of Duke University and later a U.S. senator), the Sanford School became Duke’s tenth school in 2009. Today, Sanford offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral-level degrees in public policy, national security policy, public affairs and international development policy.
A distinguished scholar and public policy expert, DeShazo specializes in environmental economics, climate adaptation, and the design of regulatory agencies. His expertise has made him a sought-after advisor for prestigious international organizations, including the World Bank and the United Nations, as well as U.S. federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Before joining UT Austin, DeShazo spent two decades at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he led both the Department of Public Policy and the Luskin Center for Innovation, a research center dedicated to addressing challenges local to California through actionable research in collaboration with impacted communities and policymakers. During this time, DeShazo and the Luskin Center played a critical role in helping state and civic leaders develop new policies in areas including energy, transportation, environmental issues and water resources.
Previously at UCLA, DeShazo also served as director of the Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. He was a five-time winner of the Professor of the Year award in UCLA’s Master of Public Policy program. Overall, DeShazo has a helped organizations grow stronger as they have risen to meet emerging public policy issues.
DeShazo’s academic career and leadership journey have been shaped by his experiences overcoming a childhood learning disability, which continues to fuel his passion for expanding educational access and opportunity. He grew up in rural Virginia as the oldest of seven children and earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary, where he became the university’s first Rhodes Scholar. He holds a Master of Development Economics from Oxford University and a doctorate in urban planning from Harvard University.