Ji Ma is currently an Assistant Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, with joint appointments in the university’s Center for East Asian Studies and School of Information. He also serves as a Visiting Researcher at the University of Oxford (2024–26) and International Visiting Professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (2024). His research and teaching focus on the intersection between technology and society, with specific emphases on: (1) applications of big data and artificial intelligence in the nonprofit and public sectors, (2) computational social science research methods, (3) knowledge production and disciplinary development in nonprofit and philanthropic studies, (4) knowledge equity, and (5) state-society relations.

Dr. Ma earned his Ph.D. from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, with a minor in Data Science from the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. He holds a Master’s in Social Policy from Beijing Normal University and a Bachelor’s in Clinical Medicine and Medical Psychology from Anhui Medical University. Prior to joining the LBJ School, he served as a researcher at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS). His first-authored works have been published in leading international journals spanning nonprofit studies, public administration and policy, sociology, political science, and data science. He serves on the editorial boards of Nonprofit Management & Leadership and Voluntas.

Dr. Ma brings diverse professional experience, having worked as a social entrepreneur, management consultant, and investigative journalist. His interdisciplinary background bridges academic rigor with practical insights into organizational development and social innovation.

Ma, J., Bekkers, R. (2024). Consensus formation in nonprofit and philanthropic studies: Networks, reputation, and gender. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 53(1), 127–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/08997640221146948

Ma, J. (2023). How does an authoritarian state co-opt its social scientists studying civil society? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 34(4), 830–846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00510-6

Ma, J., & Konrath, S. (2018). A Century of Nonprofit Studies: Scaling the Knowledge of the Field. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29(6), 1139–1158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-00057-5