Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Sociologist Shannon Monnat to Lead Maxwell’s Center for Policy Research

Monday, May 16, 2022, By Jessica Youngman
Share
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public AffairsResearch and Creative

A demographer and sociologist whose work focuses on population health will serve as the next director of the Center for Policy Research (CPR), the oldest interdisciplinary social science research program at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion and professor of sociology, will begin the position on July 1. She currently serves as the director of the Maxwell School’s Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and co-directs the Policy, Place, and Population Health Lab.

Shannon Monnat

Shannon Monnat

“Professor Monnat is a nationally recognized sociologist and interdisciplinary policy scholar who brings energy and intellectual leadership to the Maxwell School and Syracuse University. Her timely and highly cited scholarship informs and benefits public policy and the public good. Her previous leadership as director of the Lerner Center resulted in significant achievements in research, extramural funding, programming and student engagement. She is well-qualified to lead CPR,” says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke.

Monnat studies demographic and geographic trends and disparities in health and mortality, with an interest in rural health and health disparities. One area of her research has focused on the factors that explain why drug overdose rates are higher in some places in the U.S. than others.

More recently, her research has examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. She is the principal investigator (PI) for a five-year research project that will examine the impacts of the state’s mitigation policies, such as stay-at-home orders and extended unemployment benefits, on adult psychological health, drug overdose and suicide.

The COVID research project is funded with $1.95 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All told, Monnat has been the PI or co-investigator for over $10 million in external research funding from the NIH as well as the National Institute of Justice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Monnat serves as the PI for the National Wellbeing Survey which collects information on physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of working-age adults in the U.S. She has authored or co-authored nearly 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 50 book chapters and research briefs. In March 2022, she served as a panelist for a Congressional briefing on demographic trends in rural America. She also served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus committee that produced a report in 2021 on rising working-age mortality rates in the U.S.

Monnat joined Maxwell in 2017. Since then, she has served as a senior research associate for CPR as well as an affiliate to the Center for Aging and Policy Studies and the Aging Studies Institute.

She succeeds Leonard Lopoo, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics and professor of public administration and international affairs, as director of CPR.

“CPR is home to some of the top scholars in the country who conduct policy-relevant research on the most pressing social, economic, health and environmental issues of our time,” Monnat says.

“I am excited to build on the strong foundation left by the current director, Len Lopoo, to support our faculty and students in conducting rigorous policy-relevant research and disseminating knowledge that enables leaders to develop effective solutions to these critical challenges.”

Established in 1994, CPR includes faculty from across Maxwell—mostly economics, public administration and sociology—to research and offer students a wealth of opportunity for discussions while providing advice on their own research, along with the possibility of research assistantships. CPR also provides a base for visiting scholars from across the country and abroad. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, faculty typically work on various research related to public policy involving graduate students as assistants. Faculty also consult regularly with government agencies and other institutions concerned with the issues they are studying.

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

Jessica Youngman

  • Shannon Monnat

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Stage Hosts Inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival
    Wednesday, May 28, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Expert Available to Discuss DOD Acceptance of Qatari Jet
    Thursday, May 22, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Light Work Opens New Exhibitions
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Michael J. Bunker Appointed Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services

Syracuse University today announced the appointment of Michael J. Bunker as the new associate vice president and chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services following a national search. Bunker will begin his new role on July 1, 2025. He…

Syracuse University, Lockerbie Academy Reimagine Partnership, Strengthen Bond

Syracuse University and Lockerbie Academy are renewing and strengthening their longstanding partnership through a reimagined initiative that will bring Lockerbie students to Syracuse for a full academic year. This enhanced program deepens the bond between the two communities, forged in…

Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid

Syracuse University today announced a major investment in student financial support as part of its 2025-26 budget, allocating more than $391 million to financial aid, scholarships, grants and related assistance. This represents a 7% increase over last year and reflects…

Engaged Humanities Network Community Showcase Spotlights Collaborative Work

The positive impact of community-engaged research was on full display at the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) on May 2. CFAC’s galleries showcased a wide array of projects, including work by the Data Warriors, whose scholars, which include local students…

Students Engaged in Research and Assessment

Loretta Awuku, Sylvia Page and Johnson Akano—three graduate students pursuing linguistic studies master’s degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences—spent the past year researching and contributing to assessment and curricular development processes. The research team’s project, Peer-to-Peer Student Outreach…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.