BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Distinguished Professor Emeritus James Perry at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs has received the Award for Excellence in Public Administration Education, a joint award given by the Journal of Public Affairs Education and Teaching Public Administration.
The award annually recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the scholarship of teaching and learning in the field of public administration. Perry is being honored for his sustained commitment to and substantial impact on public administration education, his significant record of research on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and his dedicated engagement with the two journals.
“I am gratified to receive this unexpected recognition,” said Perry, who is also Chancellor's Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs Emeritus at O’Neill. “I have contributed in a variety of ways to the public affairs education enterprise over the years, but I neither reflected about the cumulative effects of these contributions nor expected to get an award for excellence in public administration education.”
Perry has played many different roles throughout his career. Between his arrival at the O’Neill School in 1985 and his retirement in 2013, he chaired the policy and administration faculty on three separate occasions, served as the associate dean for the O’Neill School in Indianapolis, and directed O’Neill’s online MPA program. He also was appointed to the first Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA), which has become the foremost accreditor globally for master’s programs in public policy, affairs, and administration.
Perry was also instrumental in helping JPAE become an institution in the field by helping the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) acquire the journal, and he became the editor-in-chief of JPAE during its first three years under the NASPAA umbrella.
“I have tried to lead by example,” Perry said. “An extension of that example is my service to organizations such as NASPAA and the O’Neill School. Being present and engaging with colleagues has helped to make a difference. During my career, I influenced education in the field through not only my teaching but my research and service, too.”
Perry will be honored at a luncheon during the NASPAA Annual Conference Oct. 11-13 in Pittsburgh.