Davenport Institute

Administration and Fellows

Jason Johnson (Drew) – Fellow

Drew Johnson is the president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR), a free market think tank committed to producing expert research, commentary, and solutions to pressing policy issues facing Tennessee. Before founding TCPR, Johnson was a policy analyst at the National Taxpayers Union. Johnson’s work has appeared in over 300 publications including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, National Review, Newsday, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Tech Central Station, and Human Events. A former Institute for Humane Studies Koch Fellow, Johnson has been selected by two governors to serve on the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. Johnson holds a bachelor degree from Belmont University and a master's degree in public policy from Pepperdine University.

Thomas D. Tseng – Research Fellow

Thomas Tseng is a principal and co-founder of New American Dimensions, Inc., an ethnic marketing research and consulting agency based in Los Angeles. At New American Dimensions, he manages the overall strategic marketing and public relations functions of the company. In addition, he is responsible for strategic planning, business development, and lends considerable experience as both a qualitative and quantitative researcher.  As a concurrent Research Fellow at Pepperdine University's Davenport Institute for Public Policy, Tseng has authored several widely acclaimed studies, including: Rewarding Ambition: Latinos, Housing, and the Future of California (2002) and Common Paths: Connecting Metropolitan Growth with Inner City Opportunities in South Los Angeles (1999). Tseng also teaches a course on research methods at Los Angeles Trade & Technical College.  Tseng is a graduate from the University of California, Irvine and has a Master of Arts degree from UCLA's School of Public Policy and Social Research.

Michael Warder – Senior Fellow

Michael Warder is a vice chancellor at Pepperdine University. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Warder was executive director of the Southern California Children’s Scholarship Fund (2001-05); vice president for development at The Claremont Institute based in California (1995-01); executive vice president of The Rockford Institute in Illinois (1985-95); executive vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC (1983-84); and director of administration at the Heritage Foundation (1980-83). He has written newspaper columns on a variety of topics for hundreds of newspapers including: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union Tribune, and many others. While in Illinois, Warder was a weekly commentator for WNIJ, the NPR affiliate for Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. He won four Silver Dome Awards for his commentaries. He has appeared as a guest on a wide variety of television and radio programs including: O’Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes on Fox, Politically Incorrect on ABC, Fox News, Chicago Tonight on WTTW, Life & Times and Frontline on KCET, CBS Network news, and many others.  Warder created, produced, and hosted a weekly public affairs television program, Stateline Newsmakers. He has traveled broadly and led delegations to the former Soviet Union, the Baltic States, London, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Rome, and China. Listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World, Warder is a member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Council for National Policy, Philadelphia Society, and the Board of Directors of the Americanism Educational League.  He is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in political science.