Dr. Chapman received his A.B. Economics (Honors) from Occidental College, Los Angeles, his M.A. Economics, from University of California-Berkeley and his Ph.D. Economics from University of California-Berkeley.

After 26 years at the University of Southern California, Jeff Chapman joined the ASU faculty in 1999 as the Director of the School of Public Affairs. After four years as Director, he was appointed as Interim Dean of the College of Public Programs. Chapman retired as an Emeritus Foundation Professor of Applied Public Finance in 2013.  He was a member of the Arizona Economic Round Table and was on the Board of the Grand Canyon Institute. He was given the Aaron Wildavsky lifetime achievement award for public budgeting and finance in 2017 and continued to do research in state and local fiscal sustainability.