La Follette director Kettl receives national award

Donald F. Kettl, director of the Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs at UW–Madison, has received a national award for his work in public administration.

Kettl was awarded the 1998 Charles H. Levine Memorial Award for Excellence in Public Administration. The award was presented during the national conference of the American Society for Public Administration May 9-12 in Seattle.

The award recognizes a public administration faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service to the wider community.

Kettl, professor of political science and public affairs, has been director of the La Follette Institute since 1996. He teaches public administration and public management. Kettl is also director of the Center for Public Management at the Brookings Institution. He recently chaired Gov. Tommy Thompson’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Campaign Finance Reform.

Currently, Kettl is engaged in a long-term review of government reform initiatives and in a series of training programs to help government officials more effectively manage change. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Sarah Keim, a La Follette graduate student, was also honored in Seattle by ASPA for her scholarship and service work. She was given a $250 scholarship.

In other news, the La Follette Institute has named two new assistant professors. Kelly Chang, a doctoral student at Stanford University, accepted a joint appointment with the Department of Political Science. Her fields of concentration include political organizations, formal and quantitative methods and monetary policy. Sandy Hoffman, a doctoral candidate at the University of California-Berkeley, accepted a joint appointment with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Her interests include environmental economics, institutional economics and law, and environmental and natural resource law. Both are expected to begin work during the 1998-99 academic year.