Staff

John Kincaid is the Robert B. and Helen S. Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service and Director of the Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.  He also is Senior Editor of the Global Dialogue on Federalism, a joint project of the Forum of Federations and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.  He is the recipient of the Daniel J. Elazar Distinguished Scholar Award from the Section on Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations of the American Political Science Association and of the Donald Stone Distinguished Scholar Award from the Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management of the American Society of Public Administration.

He has served as Editor of Publius: The Journal of Federalism (1981-2006); Editor of a series of books on the Governments and Politics of the American States; President of the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies (1998-2005); President of the Southwestern Political Science Association (1993-1994); Executive Director (1988-1994) and Director of Research (1986-1988) of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Washington, D.C.; and Assistant and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas (1979-1994).  In 1972-1973, he was Vice President of the Pentagon Papers Fund for the Defense of Human and Civil Liberties–the legal-defense organization for Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the Pentagon Papers Trial in Los Angeles.

He is the author of various works on federalism and intergovernmental relations; editor of Political Culture, Public Policy and the American States (1981); and coeditor of Competition among States and Local Governments:  Efficiency and Equity in American Federalism (1991), The Covenant Connection: From Federal Theology to Modern Federalism (2000), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries (2005), Interaction in Federal Systems (2008), and Local Government in Federal Systems (2008).

He has lectured and consulted on issues of federalism, intergovernmental relations, state and local government, and decentralization throughout the United States as well as in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, India, Iraq, Japan, Maldives, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Nicole Beckett, Associate Director for Public Service, built her 25-year career in Pennsylvania municipal management from the entry level through every tierof local government to municipal leadership — including 12 years as Borough Manager of Lehighton Borough, one of Pennsylvania’s 35 public power communities, where she directed a full-service municipality with a $20.5 million budget, led approximately 100 employees, and secured more than $13 million in competitive grant funding. She knows full-service municipal operations from the inside — the budget pressures, public safety demands, labor challenges, and day-to-day complexity that good management teams carry so elected officials can lead. Her expertise spans public power administration, municipal finance, economic development, public safety management, public works, and quality-of-life programming. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree and  Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown University, is a member of ICMA and APMM, and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Municipal Electric Association. A recognized voice in Pennsylvania municipal governance, she has presented at PMEA, APMM, the Local Government Academy, and the Local Government Commission, and committed to staying connected at every level of the field, including administrative assistance to a small borough in northeastern Pennsylvania because the work matters to her at every scale.

As the Meyner Center’s primary staff lead for student engagement, Nicole directs the Municipal Internship Program and related public service programming, dedicated to bringing the next generation into a field she genuinely loves. Her experience at every level of municipal government enables her to lead executive recruitment searches, conduct administrative studies and organizational assessments, perform management consultations and performance evaluations, provide training and education for elected officials and staff, and support financial analyses, strategic workforce and compensation studies, and strategic visioning for municipalities.

Nicole may be contacted by phone at (610) 330-5856 or by email at beckettn@lafayette.edu

Jennifer W. Smethers, Associate Director for Municipal Services, has over 25 years of experience in municipal government, community development and grant writing.  Her past management roles include 7 years as the Township Manager/Treasurer for Lower Mount Bethel Township and 6 years as the Township Manager for Williams Township, both second-class townships in Northampton County.  She also held leadership roles for the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Allentown.  She holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Lehigh University as a Community Fellow where her studies focused on public administration, policy analysis, and land use management.  She further holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Moravian University.  Her extensive experience in personnel management, public budgeting, grant procurement, contract management, and public administration enables her to successfully facilitate executive recruitment, administrative and financial analyses, organizational assessments, strategic planning, labor-contract negotiations and other administrative services.

Jennifer may be contacted by phone at (610) 330-5808 or by email to:  smetherj@lafayette.edu