Staff Directory

Carol Pierannunzi, Ph.D.
Director,

Dr. Carol Pierannunzi is the Director of the Burruss Institute and is also a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs. She received a Ph. D. in 1989 from the University of Georgia with specialization in research methodology, public administration and urban affairs. She is the coauthor of two books: Politics in Georgia and Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Politics, Urban Affairs Review and PS: Political Science and Politics among others. She is also the author of several book chapters and numerous government reports.

Dr. Pierannunzi began her career at Kennesaw State as Assistant Director of the Burruss Institute in 1989. She has been teaching at Kennesaw State University since 1990 and has held various teaching positions at Georgia State University, the University of Georgia, and Berry College. She has also been a consultant for numerous studies of employees in government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private industry. Her research focuses on public policy, public opinion and urban administration.

Richard Engstrom, Ph.D.
Associate Director,

Dr. Richard N. Engstrom serves as Associate Director for the Burruss Institute, and is also an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University. He does research on state politics with an emphasis on political geography and citizen political behavior. His research has appeared in Political Research Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and the Review of Policy Research, among other academic journals. Rich is currently working on projects investigating the effects of court intervention on legislative redistricting plans, the role local municipal boundaries play in residential sorting behavior in metropolitan areas, and the effect the mortgage crisis in different areas has on citizen support for government officials.

Dr. Engstrom has held teaching positions at Rice University, the University of Wyoming, and Georgia State University. He teaches courses on American politics, state politics, political behavior, and research methods.

Christy Storey
Associate Director,

Christy Storey is the Associate Director at the Burruss Institute. Ms. Storey received her B.S. Degree from Georgia College and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Georgia State University. She has been with the Institute since 1990 and is a native of Cobb County, Georgia. Ms. Storey has represented Kennesaw State and the Burruss Institute numerous times as a guest speaker at area civic organization meetings. She has been a member of area community committees including the Cherokee County Children and Youth Action Program, the Cobb County Customer Service Task Force, Neighborhood Cobb, Atlanta's VISION 2020 Transportation Committee and the Resource Development Committee of Cobb Senior Services.

Mrs. Storey's past experience includes employment at Cobb County Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs and the Transportation Studies Program in the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies at Georgia State University.

Terry Sloope
Assistant Director,

Terry Sloope is Assistant Director for Research at the Burruss Institute. He received his M.S. in Political Science from Florida State University, with additional postgraduate work as well, including participation in the Summer Research Training Program at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan. He has ten years of experience in the field of survey research.

Prior to coming to the Burruss Institute, Mr. Sloope was an instructor of Political Science at Texas A&M University, where he taught undergraduate Research Methods courses, Judicial Behavior and Constitutional Law. He formerly was a Research Associate in the Planning, Evaluation and Research Department at the Florida Bar in Tallahassee, Florida, and a data analyst with the Survey Research Center at Florida State University.

Kelleigh Trepanier
Research Associate,

Kelleigh Trepanier is a Research Associate at the Burruss Institute. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. She received her M.S. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and held various research and teaching positions while completing additional postgraduate work. She joined the Institute staff in 2000 as an interviewer with the Telephone Survey Research Laboratory.

Prior to working at the Burruss Institute, Mrs. Trepanier was employed by the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

Sherry Williams
Senior Administrative Secretary,

Sherry Williams is the Administrative Assistant at the A. L. Burruss Institute of Public Service. She began working with the Burruss Institute March of 1997.

Prior to working at the Burruss Institute, Sherry worked as a legal secretary in Cartersville, Georgia for eight years.



Paul Vaughn
Research Associate,

Paul Vaughn is a Research Associate at the Burruss Institute. He is a graduate of Georgia State University where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and an M.S. in Psychological Counseling. Paul has over 20 years of experience in survey research. He joined the Institute staff in 2008.




Ashley Crawford
Research Associate,

Ashley Crawford is a Research Associate at the Burruss Institute. She began working with the Institute as an interviewer and data entry associate in August of 2006. After completing her B.S. in Psychology, with a minor in Criminology, Ashley applied for and obtained the position of Research Associate in January 2009.



Virginia Feyerbend
Administrative Associate I,

Virginia Feyerbend is an Administrative Associate I at the Burruss Institute. She began working with the Institute as an interviewer in August of 2002, and currently coordinates the hiring of lab personnel and daily operations of the lab. Prior to joining the Burruss Institute she accrued 25 years of workplace experience.



Nathan Dunkel
Administrative Assistant III,

Nathan Dunkel is an Administrative Assistant III at the Burruss Institute. He began working with the Institute as an interviewer in August of 2007, and currently acts as an interviewer in the lab, as well as web programmer for online surveys. Nate is a junior at KSU, working toward a B.S. in Economics, with a certification in GIS.



Matthew Jennings
Administrative Assistant III,

Matthew Jennings is an Administrative Assistant III at the Burruss Institute. He began working with the Institute in 2007. He currently acts as an interviewer in the lab, as well as assisting in the daily operations of the Institute office. Matt is a senior at KSU, in the Political Science program.