Ralph Bower, a recent graduate of the University doctoral program in public administration, has won the 1996 Dissertation Award from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). NASPAA gives this award annually to the author of the best dissertation in public policy and/or management. Bower, who is now on the faculty of the Askew School at Florida State University, overcame stiff competition from researchers at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and other institutions to win the award.
Mitchel D. Abolafia of the Department of Public Administration & Policy served as director of Brower’s dissertation. “As a member of Ralph Brower’s dissertation committee, I was in an excellent position to observe the supervision that Mitchel provided, and it was first rate,” commented Frank Thompson, dean of the School of Public Affairs.
The new Alumni Directory, whose entries have grown from 35,000 in the last edition of five years ago to more than 50,000, has just been released.
In it are alumni listings by alphabetization, class year, and geographic regions. New are “Career Network Listings” by professional field, and alumni business advertising listings. The “Geographic Index” also cross-references alumni by professional fields.
“We believe that our alums will use the Directory as a tool to enhance their networking relationships and opportunities,” said Steve Lobel, assistant vice president for alumni affairs. “We have also collected e-mail information and will publish a separate e-mail directory — most likely on our WEB site.”
He added that the edition was developed by Helen Adams-Keane, former director of alumni programs, who is now alumni director at Albany Law School.