The Dr. Ralph E. Montonna Endowed Professorship for the Teaching and Education of Undergraduates fund is designed to provide support, in the form of a supplemental research fund, to a professor with notable engagement in undergraduate education. Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology, received this year's award.

After serving as its director or co-director since 2005, Catherine Gerard has stepped down from her leadership role at the Maxwell School’s renowned Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC), effective July 1, 2020. Gerard will continue as an adjunct professor of public administration and associate director for the Executive Education Programs at Maxwell, and also continue her work as co-director of the Collaborative Governance Initiative at PARCC. 

"Every candidate has campaigned on a bureaucracy-bashing theme," says Tina Nabatchi, Joseph A. Strasser Endowed Professor in Public Administration. "That message has gotten through to affect people’s confidence in government."

Jok Madut Jok, professor of anthropology, "brings regional expertise on a part of the world that is critically important from a security standpoint,” says John McPeak, a professor of public administration and international affairs. “He also adds a new perspective on issues of humanitarian relief, post-conflict reconstruction, immigration and refugee flows, and negotiations."

"We need to democratize how water is managed and governed," says Farhana Sultana, associate professor of geography. "So that all voices are heard and much more ethical practices around water are pursued." Sultana was recently a guest on Princeton Environmental Institute's All for Earth podcast. Fundamentally, we need to "ensure that principles of equity collaboration and inclusivity are central to all of this," she adds. "Because we need to really have a better understanding of how water is very much a moral issue. And as a result that will help us think about much better transformations that are equitable and inclusive. In order to fight for water justice for all." 

“The faculty promoted are nationally recognized scholars, outstanding teachers, and engaged in making their work accessible to broader audiences in an effort to shape future research, and dialogue and practice,” said David M. Van Slyke, dean of the Maxwell School.

“What is clear from conversation with our alumni and fellow scholars is that public administration—as a field of practice and academic study—in nations around the world is in a time of revolutions, and that it is going to take a cadre of well-trained, committed people to help us deal with the challenges of the 21st century,” said Tina Nabatchi, Joseph A. Strasser Endowed Professor in Public Administration.