Paul Bentley, Ph.D. serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor for the Arizona State University Watts College School of Public Affairs, and he is a member of the Next Generation Service Corps (NGSC) leadership team. In this role, Dr. Bentley provides direct undergraduate and graduate instruction, as well as serving as the faculty liaison for the NGSC, including course curriculum oversite, community partner development, and faculty teaching assignments.
Dr. Bentley holds a doctorate in Public Administration and Policy with emphasis in organizational theory/behavior and research methods from Arizona State University. His dissertation encompassed an ethnographical inquiry of power in an American policing organization. Dr. Bentley has taught courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level for Arizona State University and the University of Southern California on topics such as the fundamentals of public administration, performance management, research statistics, the police function, and crime analysis. He has been awarded a certificate of completion for the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Bentley served as a Deputy Community Health and Human Services Director for the City of Tempe, Arizona. During his tenure, Dr. Bentley’s assignments spanned community health and human services to include homeless solutions, veteran services, federal subsidized housing programs, crisis service and case management, youth services, family justice, clinical therapy, performance management, strategic planning, facilitation, and budget and finance. Two of these workgroups were recently recognized for their service to the community. CARE 7 (crisis services) received the 2023 Arizona State University School of Social Work Impact Award, while Homeless Solutions received the 2023 Downtown Tempe Authority Impact Award.