Biography:
Mark Tompkins (PhD, University of Minnesota) joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina in 1976, retiring in 2014. He served in the Department of Political Science, as well as serving at various points as Adjunct Faculty in the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the School of the Environment. In 1992, he started the Center for Health Policy in the Institute of Public Affairs. Later, he served for seven years as the Parliamentarian of Faculty Senate. Since retiring, he has been working on historical material in the South Carolina Political Collections in the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library.

Research:
Professor Tompkins’ research included several themes – state politics in the US (with a special interest in governors), perinatal epidemiology (with a special interest in prematurity, low birth weight and measurement issues), public administration (focused on questions involved in bureaucratic accountability), and environmental policy (focused on coastal resource management). Portions of his work were supported by funding from several federal, state and local agencies. In each of these areas, he maintained an interest in their role in shaping public policy debate and outcomes.

Teaching:
Professor Tompkins taught public policy and health policy. Later, he added social science research design, environmental policy and several public administration specialty courses (non-profit administration, emergency management and financial administration) to his portfolio. He also taught South Carolina Government and Politics for many years. He was an early contributor to the University’s work in Distant Learning and On-line presentation of classes, as well as working to incorporate active learning material into his classes.

Selected Publications:
Professor Tompkins’ research was published in journals ranging from the Journal of Politics, The American Journal of Epidemiology, The American Journal of Public Health, Public Administration Review, Administration and Society, to The Journal of Coastal Zone Management.