Laura Keyes

Laura Keyes, Ph.D., an AICP-certified planner, holds the position of Clinical Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator in Nonprofit Leadership Studies and Urban Policy and Planning for the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas. She teaches courses on community development, nonprofit management, and program evaluation. Her research interests include local government, age-friendly cities, livable communities, undergraduate education, and service learning. As PI, for the City of San Antonio, Ride Connect of Texas, One Call One Click Transportation Research project, she and colleagues developed a community plan for non-traditional funding and policy solutions that enhance mobility access for older people and individuals with disabilities. Dr. Keyes also serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Applied Gerontology and the Journal of Nonprofit Leadership and Education.

She recently co-authored and published her research specific to urban planning education in the Journal of Planning Education and Research (2024), age friendly cities policy in the Journal of Aging and Social Policy (2024), Journal of Applied Gerontology (2021) and the Journal of Aging and Social Policy (2022), corruption in local government in Public Integrity (2022) (John Rohr Best Article Award from American Society for Public Administration, nonprofit and local government policy response to the homeless population during the COVID 19 pandemic in Public Administration Review (2020), International Journal of Public Administration (2021), and Chinese Public Administration Review (2021), and nonprofit education in the Journal of Nonprofit Leadership Studies (2021 and 2024). She has published several textbook chapters on public administration.

Primary Research Interests: 

Local government, community development, nonprofit management, and undergraduate education