William Clay Fannin

I am a National Poverty Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I am in residence for the 2025-2026 academic year at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

I earned my Ph.D. in Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, in 2024. I also hold an MPP from the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky, and a BS in Economics from the University of Kentucky.

My research applies quasi-experimental methods to public and administrative data to evaluate how the design and implementation of U.S. social programs affect participants. My core research interests include the determinants of program participation, the consequences of administrative burden, and the relationship between social policy and labor market outcomes. In recent work, I have investigated how drastic administrative changes to nutrition assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted program outcomes.

My email address is wfannin@wisc.edu.

CV