Peter J. May

Peter J. May is the Donald R. Matthews Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Politics. He came to the UW in 1979 and retired in December 2014. May has been a visiting scholar at the U.S. Department of Interior (1997-78), a senior Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Australia National University (1991), a visiting professor at Aarhus University, Denmark (1998), a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong (2009), and a research affiliate of the Danish National Centre for Social Research in Copenhagen.

May’s research addresses policy processes, environmental regulation, and policymaking for natural hazards and disasters. He has authored or co-authored four books and numerous publications in leading journals in public policy and public administration. His research has been funded among other sources with grants from the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Geological Survey.

May was a recipient in 2021 of the APSA’s Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section’s Elinor Ostrom Career Achievement Award.  He was a recipient in 2014 of the APSA Public Policy Section’s Excellence in Mentoring Award and in 2012 of the University of Washington’s Marsha L. Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award.