Ron Bronson

Ron Bronson is an assistant professor of practice in urban technology at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He directs the Public Capacity Lab, a global research practice focused on the

His research examines the layers between policy and lived experience: software, interpretation, administrative process, and the human adaptations that keep systems running. He studies how decisions move through institutions, where implementation breaks down, and what happens when governments delegate authority to automated systems.

Bronson spent fifteen years in the public sector across city halls, state agencies, and federal government, leading teams and delivering digital services at scale. He spent over seven years at 18F, a digital services agency inside the US General Services Administration, where he held senior leadership roles including head of design and oversaw delivery for agencies including the Department of Defense, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.