Michael S. Pennington serves West Virginia State University, as the State Coordinator of the WV Certified Public Manager Program, the Chair of the Department of History & Political Science, the Director of the Graduate Program in Public Administration, as Coordinator of Interfaith Relations within the National Center for Human Relations, and as a Professor of Public Policy & Public Administration.

Dr. Pennington completed his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in Political Science in 2008, his MPA from West Virginia University in 1998, and is a proud, undergraduate alum (1997) of West Virginia State University. His interests center on public management, administration, as well as environmental and energy policy. He has written articles  for Public Administration Review, Economic Development Quarterly, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards Management, the Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, and has presented papers at numerous conferences including the annual meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association, American Political Science Association, and the American Society for Public Administration.

Dr. Pennington has dedicated his professional life to public service, and to helping those who work within the public service do their jobs better. His basic philosophy is that, if we can train public servants to be better at what they do, it will not only benefit them, but will benefit the organizations that employ them. Better organizations lead to better service delivery for clientele, which leads to better communities, and better lives for our citizens.