is Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the founder and Director of the National Center for Digital Government. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government for 2018 by the global policy platform Apolitical. Fountain is former Chair, Vice Chair and member of the World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on the Future of Government. She has served on the faculties of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and holds a PhD from Yale University.