Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington. He completed my Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015. His areas of specialization include public policy and American politics with an emphasis on organized interests, lobbying, and agenda-setting. Recent work explores substantive applications in the areas of public health and disasters.
His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, the Dirksen Congressional Center, and the UT-Arlington College of Liberal Arts (C2C Program). He has published in the American Journal of Public Health, Policy Studies Journal, Public Administration, Politics Research Quarterly, Interest Groups & Advocacy, Politics & Gender, Cognitive Systems Research, and PS: Political Science and Politics. His book (with Timothy LaPira), Revolving Door Lobbying, provides a comprehensive analysis of former government officials working as lobbyists in Washington and was published by the University Press of Kansas. Follow-up research explores “shadow lobbying” as well as gender dynamics and representation in the lobbying profession.
At UT-Arlington, he teaches courses on American national government, interest groups and advocacy, research design and political analysis, and public policy analysis. In 2019, he received the UTA President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.