The National Academy of Public Administration is an academic institution that was founded by

James E. Webb James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1952. He was the second Administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961, to October 7, 1968. Webb led NAS ...

, then-administrator of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, and other leading public administration practitioners in 1967 and chartered under Title 36 of the United States Code in 1984 under . The academy is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, nonpartisan organization focused on analyzing emerging trends in governance and public administration. It is one of the two organizations (the other being the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

) chartered by Congress in this manner. Though the academy's funding comes primarily from studies that are congressionally requested or mandated, it is not considered a government agency. It is based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The group established the Louis Brownlow Book Award in 1968.

Background

The academy's studies are directed by a group of over 850 peer-elected fellows. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors for those engaged in the study or practice of public administration. The fellows are responsible for establishing the organization's policies and priorities and serving as advisers on panels, convened for each study, which issue the studies findings and recommendations. Webb's impetus in forming the academy was to create an organization that would provide independent, nonpartisan and neutral advice to government leaders and agencies on all levels of government. The academy provides advice to a variety of organizations including: * Various U.S. congressional committees * U.S. Department of Energy *

U.S. Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...

U.S. Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a United States federally chartered corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined b ...

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Mission

As per the congressional charter, the academy's mission is:

Through its trusted and experienced leaders, the Academy improves the quality, performance, and accountability of governments in the nation and the world. To this end, the Academy's Congressional Charter calls on it to:

# Evaluate the structure, administration, operation, and program performance of governments; anticipate, identify, and analyze significant problems; and suggest timely correct action; # Foresee and examine critical issues in governance; and formulate practical approaches to their resolution; # Assess the effectiveness, structure, administration, and implications for governance of present or proposed public programs, policies, and processes; and recommend specific changes; # Advise on relationship of federal, state, regional, and local governments; increase public officials', citizens', and scholars' understanding of requirements and opportunities for sound governance and how these can be effectively met; # Demonstrate by the conduct of its affairs a commitment to the highest professional standards of ethics and scholarship; and # Investigate, experiment, and report upon any subject of government whenever called upon by Congress or the federal government.

Research

Through its studies, the academy has focused attention on a range of government issues, including: * Strategy development and

change management Change management (sometimes abbreviated as CM) is a collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and help individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change. It includes methods that redirect or redefine the use of ...

* Organizational structure and design *

Program evaluation Program evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency. In both the public and private sectors, s ...

Human capital Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...

and multisector workforce * Acquisitions, budget and finance * Intergovernmental relations * Workshops and outreach Most studies are carried out under the direction of project panels which consist primarily of elected academy fellows. Recent studies include:
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement: Strategic Organizational Assessment
(March 2017)
Agricultural Research Service: Review of Administrative and Financial Management Services
(February 2017)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Improving CDC’s Executive Recruitment, Performance Management, Compensation and On Boarding Processes
(February 2017)
Federal Aviation Administration: Personnel Reform Effectiveness Assessment
(January 2017)

Fellows

The academy's over 850 fellows are current and former public managers and scholars, business executives and labor leaders, Cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators, and diplomats who provide insight and experience as they oversee academy projects and provide general guidance. fellows are also the academy's primary vehicle for addressing emerging issues and contributing to the intellectual and popular discourse on government. Fellows elect new members of the academy each year. The principal criterion for selection is a sustained and outstanding contribution to the field of public administration through public service or scholarship. Some notable fellows include: *

Robert Agranoff Robert Agranoff (May 25, 1936 – November 14, 2019) was an American political scientist and public administration scholar and author. A Professor Emeritus at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Agranoff was best k ...

* Mary G. F. Bitterman *

Michael M. Crow Michael Maurice Crow (born October 11, 1955) is an American academic administrator and parking lot executive. He is the 16th and current president of Arizona State University, having succeeded Lattie F. Coor on July 1, 2002. During his tenure at ...

James Hendler James Alexander Hendler (born April 2, 1957) is an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States, and one of the originators of the Semantic Web. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administr ...

Jonathan Koppell Jonathan Koppell is the President of Montclair State University, Montclair New Jersey. He previously served as dean of the Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions and Provost for Public Service and Social Impact at Arizona State Un ...

Greg Lashutka Gregory S. Lashutka (born March 28, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the 51st mayor of Columbus, Ohio, from 1992 to 2000. He is an Eagle Scout and had earlier been an American football player. Athletics Lashutka was tight end for the O ...

Shelley H. Metzenbaum Shelley Hope Metzenbaum is an American nonprofit executive, academic, and former government official specializing in public sector performance management. She was the founding president of the Volcker Alliance and worked in the Office of Managemen ...

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

* James Perry * Alasdair Roberts *

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

* Dick Thornburgh * David Walker * William J. Walker *

Daniel Weitzner Professor Daniel J. Weitzner is the director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative and principal research scientist at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab CSAIL. He teaches Internet public policy in MIT's Computer Scie ...

Board chairs

Current board

Current officers

* Reginald Robinson, chair * Sallyanne Harper, vice chair * Jonathan Fiechter, treasurer * B.J. Reed, secretary * Teresa Gerton, president and CEO

Current members

* Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr. * Lawrence S. Cooley * Judy England-Joseph * Arnold Fields * Martha Joynt Kumar * Anne Khademian * Kristine Marcy * Jeffrey Neal * Mark A. Pisano * F. Stevens Redburn * Myra Howze Shiplett * David Van Slyke * David Warm

Past board members

* John D. Millett (1970–1973) * James A. Norton (1973–1974) * Frederic N. Cleaveland (1974–1978) * Alan L. Dean (1978–1981) * Phillip S. Hughes (1981–1985) *

Elmer B. Staats Elmer Boyd Staats (June 6, 1914 – July 23, 2011) was an American public servant whose career from the late 1930s to the early 1980s was primarily associated with the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) (now the Office of Management and Budget MB and ...

(1985) * Mark E. Keane (1985–1987) * Joseph L. Fisher (1987–1991) * Astrid E. Merget (1991–1993) * Alfred M. Zuck (1993–1995) * Peter L. Szanton (1995– 1997) * Jonathan Howes (1997–1999) * David S. C. Chu (1999–2001) * Jane Pisano (2001–2001) * Mortimer L. Downey (2001–2002) * Carl Stenberg (2002–2004) * Valerie Lemmie (2004–2007) * J. Christopher Mihm (2007–2010) *

Kenneth S. Apfel Kenneth S. Apfel (born October 12, 1948) is the 13th Commissioner of Social Security in the United States, filling a four-year term of office that ran from 1997 through 2001. Background Apfel was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. A graduate of Un ...

(2010–2011) * Diane M. Disney (2011–unknown)

Executive directors and presidents

* George A. Graham (1967–1972) * Roy W. Crawley (1972–1976) * George H. Esser (1976–1982) * J. Jackson Walter (1982–1985) * Ray Kline (1985–1992) * R. Scott Fosler (1992–2000) * Robert J. O'Neill, Jr. (2000–2002) * Phillip M. Burgess (2002–2003) * Howard M. Messner (2003–2003) * C. Morgan Kinghorn (2003–2006) * Howard M. Messner (2006–2007) * Jennifer L. Dorn (2007–2010) * Kristine M. Marcy (2011–2011) * Dan Gregory Blair (2011–2016) * Terry Gerton (2017–present)

References

External links

*
The Collaboration Project

Memos to National Leaders Project

The Political Appointee Project
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United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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