Fellows come from diverse backgrounds with distinguished careers in public policy research and practice
Research projects will focus on topics in artificial intelligence, science funding, healthcare, and online education
Albany, NY — The Rockefeller Institute of Government is proud to announce four new scholars as 2025-26 Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellows. For one year, these four accomplished experts will partner with Rockefeller Institute experts to research pressing public policy issues in artificial intelligence, science funding, healthcare, and online education.
The prestigious fellowship program is named after former longtime Rockefeller Institute Director Richard P. Nathan. The fellowship seeks to connect cutting-edge policy expertise to public problems and the policy community that tries to address these problems.
The fellows are:
Sky Bell
Sky Bell is an AI practitioner and technologist with 15+ years of experience mastering emerging technologies to drive impact. A former Apple Genius, she bridges technical fluency and human-centered design, demystifying complex tools and turning them into accessible resources. Sky founded Capital Region AI Catalyst, a nonprofit democratizing AI through education and collaboration, and serves on the NYS AI Forum Steering Committee, advocating for ethical, community, and workforce-focused AI strategies. Her work focuses on turning curiosity into capability, helping individuals and institutions adapt to AI with confidence. In the absence of a broader federal AI policy framework, Bell will examine state-level policies and legislation related to the use of AI, and the different regulatory models employed therein.
Marco Castillo
Marco Castillo is an associate professor of political science at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY), where he teaches American government and constitutional law. His research examines the relationship between bureaucracy and democracy, public participation in governance, and the role of technology in public administration. He has published on topics including participatory budgeting, urban public education governance, and comparative public administration, and is currently researching digital communication in public affairs. At City Tech, he has served in multiple faculty governance leadership roles, including chair of the College Council. As a former legislative policy analyst for the New York City Council, Castillo brings a practitioner’s perspective to his academic work, emphasizing the importance of civic engagement in government and social equity in the provisioning of public services. As part of his fellowship, Castillo will examine the state of online higher education across New York’s urban, suburban, and rural regions.
Ohbet Cheon
Ohbet Cheon is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management & Behavior at the University at Albany. She received her PhD in political science from Texas A&M University and her master’s in public administration and public policy from Seoul National University (South Korea). With a robust background in public policy and healthcare management, her work focuses on how healthcare organizations adopt innovations in response to policy changes and performance feedback. She is also interested in assessing health disparities and in designing, implementing, and evaluating health services interventions. She has published in Health Services Research, American Journal of Medical Quality, Population Health Management, International Public Management Journal, Public Management Review, and other leading journals. Prior to joining the University at Albany, she served as an assistant professor of healthcare management at Clarkson University and as a postdoctoral fellow at the Houston Methodist Research Institute and the NSF Center for Health Organization Transformation. As part of her fellowship, Cheon will explore how healthcare organizations respond to state and federal policies designed to reduce 30-day readmissions, improve care coordination, and address opioid overuse.
Christine Leuenberger
Christine Leuenberger served as program director in the Office of the Director and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2022–25 as an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignee from Cornell University’s Department of Science and Technology Studies. Leuenberger is an interdisciplinary social scientist trained in international relations, sociology, and science studies. She has published various edited volumes and books, and her work has appeared in academic journals, edited volumes, and popular news outlets. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and a Fulbright Specialist. She has also served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of State and at the US Agency for International Development from 2016–17. Her research interests include how to bring science to policy and how to strengthen the scientific enterprise in uncertain times. As part of her fellowship, Leuenberger will analyze changes in federal funding of Science & Technology (S&T) in connection with increasing visa restrictions implemented towards STEM talent from foreign countries.