About the Office

Rick Shangraw - Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs

Dr. Shangraw oversees Arizona State University’s growing annual $225 million research portfolio. He has overall responsibility for research administration, strategic research initiatives, several innovation and entrepreneurship programs, and corporate engagement.

Shangraw’s research interests include policy informatics, large scale project risk and uncertainty, research policy, and managerial decision making. He previously served as ASU’s Associate Vice President for Strategic Research and as the founding Executive Director of ASU’s Decision Theater, a state-of-the-art center using visualization, simulation and modeling, and collaboration tools to address complex public policy issues.

Prior to joining ASU, Shangraw was the founder and CEO of Project Performance Corporation (PPC), a research and technology consulting firm specializing in environmental, energy, and information management issues. During his tenure, PPC received the “Inc. 500 Award” for being one of the fastest-growing, privately held companies in the United States. Before starting PPC, Shangraw held a tenure-track appointment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and an affiliated appointment with the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He currently holds a Professor of Practice appointment with ASU’s School of Public Affairs within the College of Public Programs.

He has a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and a Certificate in Environmental Studies from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; a Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University; and he earned his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School with a specialization in Technology and Information Policy and Organization Design.