Cornelius Martin "Neil" Kerwin (born April 10, 1949) is an American academic in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

and former president of American University. A 1971 undergraduate alumnus of American University, Kerwin continued his education with a

Master of Arts degree A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

in 1973. In 1975, Kerwin returned to his alma mater and joined the faculty of the

American University School of Public Affairs The American University School of Public Affairs (SPA) is an institution of higher education and research located in Washington, D.C. that grants academic degrees in political science, public administration, public policy, and justice, law and ...

, then the School of Government and Public Administration. Kerwin completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in political science from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1978 and continued to teach until 1989, when he became the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the school. In 1996, Kerwin was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He continued in that post until 1997, when he was named American University's provost. During his tenure as provost, Kerwin oversaw a number of major changes including the tightening of graduate and doctoral programs, the foundation of the University College Program, and comprehensive reviews and overhauls of the

General Education General Education is a 2012 comedy film, directed by Tom Morris, starring Chris Sheffield, Maiara Walsh, Elaine Hendrix, Bobby Campo, Janeane Garofalo and Larry Miller and produced by Pelican House Productions. The film was shot in Chico and G ...

Program, University Honors Program and academic advising. Kerwin put his understanding of policy implementation to use in executing segments of then-

University president A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

Benjamin Ladner's 15-Point Plan, including the establishment of a new faculty senate. Following the American University Board of Trustees' decision to suspend Ladner on August 25, 2005, Kerwin was named Acting President. He held that post through the Board's investigation and subsequent removal of Ladner. He was named to permanently replace Ladner on July 20, 2007. Kerwin is the first American University alumnus to serve as its University President. Kerwin's academic work focuses on public policy, administrative and regulatory processes and implementation and American government. He is the author of ''Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy'' and coauthor of ''How Washington Works: The Executive's Guide to Government''. In the ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' survey of college presidents' salaries for 2007–08, he was fifth in the nation with a compensation of $1.4 million as a result of his 20-year signing bonus. AU President Neil Kerwin said on March 28, 2016, that he would step down as president when his contract expired in May 2017.

References

External links

Official biography
* https://archive.today/20130128165205/http://bios.marquiswhoswho.com/cornelius_martin_kerwin/academic_administrator_educator/6611245 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerwin, Cornelius M. American University alumni University of Rhode Island alumni American non-fiction writers 1949 births Living people American political scientists Leaders of American University