Public Administration and International Affairs Department News, Media Commentary and Research

“Federal law protects both civilian and military public servants from punishment for refusing to follow illegal orders, though few employees know these protections exist,” writes University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe, who served in both Bush administrations at the Pentagon, White House and NASA; and Josh Gotbaum, who served in the Clinton Administration as an appointee at the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget.

Doctoral students will examine how policies and geographic factors shape health outcomes for American adults.

Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs, and Madonna Harrington Meyer, University Professor, discuss their co-written book Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity (Russell Sage Foundation, 2025).

“I think there’s a narrow slice of the electorate that could potentially be persuaded and moved, swayed by that cross-party endorsement. But in the states that we’re talking about, that narrow slice of the electorate could be pivotal,” says Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs.

“If a woman wants assistance in planning the timing of her childbearing, it is not available. This is but one-example of the lopsidedness of family planning in the U.S. Our programs are designed to assist when women want to restrict their childbearing but offer no support when women want to have children,” writes Leonard Lopoo, professor, chair and associate dean of public administration and international affairs.

Sisters Taylor, Sydney and Lauren Grosso left their family farm for the Maxwell School to earn M.P.A. degrees, finding the mentors, opportunities and family atmosphere that shaped their careers.

The event will be held in the K.G. Tan Auditorium on Sept. 14, and features a screening of the documentary, The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11: From Tragedy to Triumph, produced by Maxwell alumnus Chris Meek.

The next Maxwell School-sponsored blood drive is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Schine Student Center.

“Over the last few years, election denialism has become something of a litmus test within the Republican Party,” says Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs.

Andrew Lunetta found his focus at the Maxwell School—now he’s a ‘CNN Hero’ building homes for people who need them most.

“Even though the federal government spends nearly $100 billion annually on SNAP, there is no federally funded survey or data source that can evaluate this important change to the program,” writes Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

“There is some support for the claim that ideologues can more effectively mobilize the base and activate new voters, but they are also more effective at mobilizing opposition,” says Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs.

Five Syracuse faculty, including Maxwell professors Ryan Griffiths and Colleen Heflin, share findings on food policy, AI, architecture, political science and marine biology on the nationally broadcast program “The Academic Minute.”

“These are both terrible policy and politics,” says Leonard Burman, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. The benefits of both would “disproportionately accrue to the wealthiest households,” given the existing distribution of assets in the U.S., he says.

When Louise Gartner Birkhead arrived at the Maxwell School in 1951 to begin a master of public administration degree, she was one of only two women in her class. The education and training she received shaped a career devoted to public service and a lifelong drive to open doors in government for the women who would follow her. Birkhead died July 13 at the age of 97.

“Deployments of this length put a great deal of pressure on the ship and its crew, with long-term impact on personnel, sustainment of the ship and the turnaround cycle for future deployments,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

Co-authored by Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs, and Maxwell alumna Hyojeong Kim, the article was published in Demography.

Jiahuan Lu, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, has co-edited a new research handbook, Nonprofit Organization Management in China: Research and Practice (Routledge, 2026). The volume examines nonprofit management in China through a comparative, organizational lens rather than the state-society framework common in earlier scholarship. 

Four faculty members have received tenure in their promotion to associate professor, while one has been promoted to full professor and another to associate teaching professor.

“The Iranians have put several other conditions on reopening this [Strait of Hormuz] in addition to the traffic separation scheme that has been put together between Iran and Oman, which may or may not be easy to digest by the White House and other actors,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.