2007 John Gaus Award

The John Gaus award is to honor the recipient’s lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration and to recognize achievement and encourage scholarship in public administration.

Award Committee: David H. Rosenbloom, American University, Chair; Barbara J. Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles; and David L. Weimer, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Recipient: Laurence Lynn, Jr., Texas A&M University

Award Address: “The New Frontiers of Public Administration: The Practice of Theory and the Theory of Practice”

Citation:  The American Political Science Association confers the 2007 John Gaus award on Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. in recognition of a “lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration.” Dr. Lynn holds the George H. W. Bush Chair and is Professor of Public Affairs at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, and the Sydney Stein, Jr., Professor of Public Management Emeritus at the University of Chicago where he taught for many years. In outstanding ways, Laurence Lynn has enriched both the practice and the scholarship of political science and public administration. His work in the public service has earned him the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal and a Presidential Certificate of Distinguished Achievement.  His scholarship has helped shape, and critique, four decades of development in public administration, public policy and social services administration. And his leadership has advanced the quality of teaching and research as Dean of the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration, as Chair of the Public Policy program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and in numerous programs and Associations.

In his recent scholarship, including the book Public Management as Art, Science, and Profession (Chatham House, 1996) and a shorter article in the Public Administration Review on “The Myth of the Bureaucratic Paradigm: What Traditional Public Administration Really Stood For” Dr. Lynn grounded contemporary developments in public administration rediscovery of the richness of the history of public administration thought – drawing from earlier scholars central to political science and public administration such as John Gaus himself, WF Willoughby, Leonard White, Luther Gulick, (all former presidents of APSA) and many others—and finding much to learn from in these “traditional” scholars: “traditional habits of thought exhibited far more respect for law, politics, citizens, and values than customer-oriented managerialism or civic philosophies that, in promoting community and citizen empowerment, barely acknowledge the constitutional role of legislatures, courts, and executive departments.”

Dr. Lynn’s background is eclectic and broad. He has held senior positions with the U.S. federal government, including deputy assistant secretary of defense; director of program analysis at the National Security Council; assistant secretary, Department of Health, Education and Welfare; and assistant secretary, Department of the Interior. He has also chaired National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council committees on Child Development Research and Public Policy and on National Urban Policy and was a member of the NRC Committee on Education Finance: Equity, Adequacy and Productivity. He has published extensively, including books on public management, public policy, and the presidency, and in academic journals addressing his continuing interests include public choice and institutional theories as applied to the management of public bureaucracies, the executive function in government, and the government’s role in human service provision.

Honors include the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management’s Vernon Prize. He has been a “teacher of the year” at both the Harris School and the Bush School. He is the first recipient of the H. George Frederickson award for career contributions to public management scholarship from the Public Management Research Association (2005). He is also the recipient of the American Society for Public Administration’s Dwight Waldo Award (2006) and Paul Van Riper Award (2007). In the spirit of the theme of the Annual Conference in which this award is made, Political Science and Beyond, it is well worth note as well, that Dr. Lynn holds a Ph.D. in economics, from Yale University, and has a professional record of distinction in interdisciplinary. He is past president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.