Dr. James M. Ferris is a Professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He holds the Emery Evans Olson Chair in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship and Public Policy and is the founding Director of The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. He specializes in the economics of the public and nonprofit sectors, public finance, and public policy. His research focuses on the shifting roles of the public, nonprofit and for-profit sectors in governance and the economy. He is currently investigating the changing landscape of philanthropy; roles and strategies for foundation engagement in public policymaking and social change; philanthropic-government partnerships; place-based philanthropy; and philanthropic leadership. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Ferris serves on the editorial board of the Nonprofit Policy Forum and has previously served on the editorial board of the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly under three previous editors and the board of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, including a stint as a founding Associate Editor. Professor Ferris teaches courses in public policy, philanthropy, nonprofits, public finance, and the political economy of institutions.