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Nakamura Appointed Director of UAlbany's Center for Legislative Development

Contact: Michael Parker (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 30, 2004) -- Robert Nakamura, professor of political science at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, has been appointed director of the Center for Legislative Development (CLD) following a national search. The center is one of the college's main windows on the world, focused on institution building in emerging democracies. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), it is currently implementing a major project in Lebanon.

�Bob Nakamura brings valuable experience to the center,� said Rockefeller College Dean Frank Thompson. �He has been involved in several projects focused on nation building in Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere. He also has a strategic vision for the center that I believe will allow it to sustain and enhance the tradition of excellence associated with the Center's former director, the late Professor Abdo Baaklini.� Baaklini, who passed away in November 2003, led CLD's efforts to assist the government in Lebanon beginning in 1993, following a 16-year civil war.

Nakamura's academic specialization is in the study of policy implementation. He has been published in numerous professional journals and has written six books, including Taming Regulation, co-authored with Thomas Church and published by the Brookings Institution in 2003. He is a co-author, with John Johnson, of USAID�s �Handbook on Legislative Development� and the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) �Legislatures and Good Governance� and �How to Conduct a Legislative Needs Assessment.� These works are listed among the basic references for legislative development practitioners at web sites maintained by USAID, The UNDP, the Canadian International Development Agency and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and several others. In addition, Prof. Nakamura has done policy and legislative development work in over a dozen legislative bodies in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe as a consultant to USAID, UNDP, the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. General Accounting Office, the New York State Assembly and other organizations.

Ranked among the top-10 public affairs programs in the nation, UAlbany's Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy's core mission is to discover, communicate, and apply knowledge about politics, governance, public policy, and public management. The college directly helps public managers, policymakers, and others deal effectively with the challenges they face, making democracy stronger and governments more effective around the world. For more information about the college, visit www.albany.edu/rockefeller/.

 


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