Rosemary O'Leary is Distinguished Professor of Public Administration. An elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, she was a senior Fulbright scholar in Malaysia in 1998-1999 and the Philippines in 2005-2006. Previously O'Leary was professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University and co-founder and co-director of the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute.

O'Leary is the author or editor of six books and more than 100 articles on public management and public policy. She has won nine national research awards, including Best Book in Public and Nonprofit Management for 2000 (given by the Academy of Management), Best Book in Environmental Management and Policy for 2005 and 1999 (given by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)), and the Mosher Award, which she won twice, for best article by an academician published in Public Administration Review.  Her research has been funded by the Hewlett Foundation (9 years), the International City/County Management Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Bar Association, and the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

She is the only person to win three awards from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA): Distinguished Research (2004), Excellence in Teaching (1996), and Best Dissertation (1989). In 2003, O'Leary was awarded the Syracuse University Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, the highest research award at the university.

O'Leary has won eight teaching awards.  In addition, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given by ASPA's Section on Environment and Natural Resources Administration. She has served as national chair of the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association, and as the national chair of the Section on Environment and Natural Resources Administration of ASPA.