Dean Barbara Romzek

Barbara Romzek, the Dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University, has been selected to receive the 2014 John Gaus Award from the American Political Science Association (APSA). Dean Romzek, an expert in public management and accountability, was chosen for "a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration."

In August she will give the 29th John Gaus Distinguished Lecture at APSA's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The full text of her lecture will be published in an upcoming issue of PS: Political Science & Politics.

Dean Romzek has written extensively on issues of management and accountability in the bureaucracy. She has published three books and scores of journal articles, book chapters and monographs on public management in complex work settings, including NASA, Congress and the Air Force, as well as state agencies, local governments, nonprofit agencies and collaborative networks of service providers.

A 1987 article that she co-authored with Melvin Dubnick, "Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy," was cited in March by the American Society for Public Administration as one of the 75 most influential articles in the history of the journal Public Administration Review. The article, which continues to be among the top 10 most accessed articles of the journal, identified multiple types of public sector accountability that operate simultaneously for public officials.

She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and has held numerous leadership positions within professional associations of political science and public administration. They include the public administration sections of the American Political Science Association and the Midwest Political Science Association, public and nonprofit section of the Academy of Management, and executive councils of the American Political Science Association and the Network of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration.

Dean Romzek is the third faculty member from the School of Public Affairs to win the Gaus Award, joining Robert Durant (2013) and David Rosenbloom (2001), both experts in public administration and policy.

The American Political Science Association is a professional organization of political science students and scholars that serves more than 12,000 members in over 80 countries. In addition to PS: Political Science & Politics, it publishes the journals American Political Science Review and Perspectives on Politics.