Brenda Gellner

Visiting Assistant Professor

School of Public Policy

Education

Ph.D. Public Policy and Management, University of Washington, 2024
MPA, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2017
B.A. Mathematics, Northwestern University, 2014

Teaching & Research Interests

Street-level bureaucracy theory
Frontline worker discretion and well-being
Experimental and qualitative methods
Microeconomics and policy analysis

Dr. Brenda Gellner

Brenda Gellner is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the UConn School of Public Policy. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, Seattle. Brenda is a policy implementation researcher interested in the mismatch between policy-as-written and policy-as-executed as it arises at the micro-level in frontline work. In her current research, she bridges literature from public administration and health services and uses mixed methods approaches to study the discretion, decision-making, and well-being of primary care physicians. In the 2024–2025 school year, she is teaching economics and policy analysis.