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The base of pillars in Regent University’s Robertson Hall on the Virginia Beach campus.
Stephen M. King, Ph.D.Professor, Government & Criminal Justice

Stephen M. King, Ph.D.

Bio

Dr. Stephen M. King received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1990.

Dr. King has taught in Christian higher education since 1991 and in higher education overall since 1989. His primary areas of teaching are in Public Administration, Public Policy Analysis, Ethics in Public Leadership, and American Government and Politics.

Dr. King has published numerous articles, essays, book reviews, and policy studies in both academic and non-academic publications. His research covers a wide range of areas, including religion and politics, spirituality and the workplace, ethical and moral leadership in public sector organizations, education reform, and civic education. He is a regular contributor to the PA Times Online newsletter, affiliated with the American Society for Public Administration. In addition, he has authored and/or co-authored four books: “God and Caesar: The Biblical Keys to Good Government and Community Action” (Xulon Press, 2002); co-author with Bradley S. Chilton, “Administration in the Public Interest: Principles, Policies, and Practices” (Carolina Academic Press, 2009); and co-author with Bradley S. Chilton, Viviane E. Foyou, and J. Scott McDonald, “The Public Administration Profession: Policy, Management, and Ethics” (Routledge, 2018). His fourth book is titled “Ethical Public Leadership: Foundation, Exploration, and Discovery” (Routledge, 2024).

In addition to teaching and research, Dr. King has served in several administrative positions in Christian higher education, including Associate Dean of Academics, Director of MPA Program, and Department Chairman (Patrick Henry College, Taylor University, and Regent University). In addition, he served as Research Vice President at the Public Interest Institute in Mt. Pleasant, IA (2008-2009). He serves on two executive councils: the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration (2020-2022) and the American Society of Public Administration Section on Ethics and Integrity in Government (2021-2024). He serves on the Editorial Board of the newly formed Virginia Journal for Public Administration (2025-). Additionally, he was invited by C-SPAN to be one of 141 scholars nationwide to participate in its 2021 President Survey.

Dr. King has pastored two churches (1996; 1997-1998), launched his own speaking and writing ministry, “Stephen King” Ministries (2002-2003), and was a licensed and ordained minister (e.g., Redemption Ministries and Bob Yandian Ministries).

Scholarly Areas of Expertise and Interest

  • Public Administration (sub-fields: administrative ethics, spirituality, and the public workplace; public management and leadership)
  • Public Policy (sub-fields: policy analysis, policy development and implementation, general policy)
  • American Politics (sub-fields: general American politics, religion and politics, state, and local government)

Teaching Interests

  • The American Republic
  • State and Local Government
  • American Presidency
  • Introduction to the Study of Government
  • Public Policy
  • Senior Seminar
  • American Politics I: Founding and Institutions

Professional Service Roles

  • 2025-: Member of Editorial Board for the Virginia Journal of Public Administration
  • 2024-2025: President, Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration (HRASPA)
  • 2021-2024: Member of Executive Committee, Section of Ethics and Integrity in Government (SEIGov), American Society of Public Administration
  • 2020-2023: Member of Executive Council, Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration

Publications

Stephen M. King, Ethical Public Leadership: Foundation, Exploration, and Discovery. New York: Routledge, 2024.

King, S.M., Firestone, S., Henkel, H., & Moore, B.T. (2023). Ethical leadership: Descriptive literature review of the diverse influence and development of ethics upon public sector and military leaders, followers, and organizations, The Journal of Values-Based Leadership: Vol. 16: Issue. 2, Article 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.22543/1948-0733.1449. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol16/iss1/2.

Agyapong, E., King, S.M., Roberts, G. (2022). Servant Leadership and Ethics. In: Dhiman, S.K., Roberts, G.E. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Servant Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69802-7_96-1

Roberts, G.E., King, S.M., Agyapong, E. (2022). Servant Soldiers. In: Dhiman, S., Roberts, G.E. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Servant Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69802-7_51-1

Bradley S. Chilton & Stephen M. King (2022). Constitutional conscience and plural ethical directionality. Public Integrity, 24(1), 18-32, https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2020.1838131.

Stephen M. King (2022) Crisis Leadership: A Case Study of New York’s 2020 COVID-19 Nursing Home Executive Policy Action, Public Integrity, 24(7), pp. 654-663. Published online in 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2021.1960750

King, S. M., Agyapong, E., & Roberts, G. (2021). ASPA code of ethics as a framework for teaching ethics in public affairs and administration: A conceptual content analysis of MPA ethics course syllabi. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 27(2), 176-197.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2019.1640560.

Awards

  • 2023: Wolfgang Pindaur Award for Scholarship, Hampton Roads Chapter of American Society of Public Administration (HRASPA)
  • 2023: Regent Faculty Scholarship Award
  • 2022: Dean’s Scholarship for Research
  • 2022: Faculty Tenure, Regent University
  • 2016-2021: Five-Year Service Award, Regent University