# Rosemary O'Leary

Rosemary O'Leary is Emerita Distinguished Professor at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and Emerita Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on public management, collaboration, conflict resolution, environmental and natural resources management, and public law.
She is most acknowledged for her scholarship exploring dissent in public organizations by career public servants who disobey the wishes of their superiors in order to do the right thing. She is also acknowledged for her research on catalyzing creative collaboration to improve public service and the impact of court decisions on government policies, people, and organizations.
In 2021, the Academy of Management section on public and nonprofit management chose the 3rd edition of her book, "The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government" (CQ Press 2021) as the winner of the Best Book in Public Management Award. This book explores the phenomenon of "guerrilla government," where public servants resist or subvert official policies and decisions they find unethical, ineffective, or unjust. The book examines how bureaucrats engage in covert or overt dissent within government agencies, often acting as internal whistleblowers or quiet resisters. Through real-world case studies, O’Leary analyzes the ethical dilemmas these public servants face, the motivations behind their actions, and the implications for governance, accountability, and democratic integrity. She also provides strategies for public managers to recognize, navigate, and constructively engage with dissent to foster ethical and effective government.

## Career

Rosemary O'Leary was the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas from 2013 to 2023, following a 24 year career at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University (Phanstiel Distinguished Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership) and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington (Professor). Today she continues to teach and consult on "ethical dissent for public servants".
She has won 13 national awards for her research and 2 international awards for her research, including 4 best book awards. She is the winner of 11 teaching awards, two of them national. She is also the only person to win four Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) awards for Best Dissertation, Excellence in Teaching, Distinguished Research, and Excellence in Doctoral Education. O’Leary has worked in Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, India, Nepal, and the US. She was President of the Public Management Research Association, 2017-2019. In 2019, the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) established the annual "Rosemary O'Leary Prize for Outstanding Scholarship on Women in Public Administration."

## Selected Awards and Honors

* Duncombe Award (for outstanding mentoring of PhD students) given by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA)
* Provan Award (for outstanding contributions to empirical theory) given by the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division
* Frederickson Award (for lifetime achievement and continuous contributions to public management research over an extended career) given by the Public Management Research Association
* Routledge Award (for “outstanding contribution to public management research”) given by the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM)
* John Gaus Award (for a “lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration”) given by the American Political Science Association
* Dwight Waldo Award (for “distinguished contributions to the professional literature of public administration and in recognition of a distinguished career as author, educator, and public administrator”), given by the American Society for Public Administration
* Distinguished Research Award ("for published work that has had a substantial impact on the thought and understanding of public administration"), given jointly by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration and the American Society for Public Administration
* Co-Author of “One of 75 Most Influential Articles since 1940” Commendation from Public Administration Review (with L. Bingham and T. Nabatchi), 2014, for "The New Governance: Practices and Processes for Stakeholder and Citizen Participation in the Work of Government," Public Administration Review, vol. 665, no. 5, pp. 547–558, 2005.
* Charles H. Levine Memorial Award (for “excellence in public administration research, teaching, and service to the broader community”), American Society for Public Administration and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration
* NASA Public Service Medal (for “distinguished leadership, dedication and commitment” as a member of the NASA Return to Flight Task Group assembled in response to the Columbia space shuttle accident)
* Elected Fellow, U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, 1998.

## Notable Experience

* Creator and coordinator of the international Minnowbrook III conference (2008) assessing the future of public administration around the world.
* Senior Fulbright scholar in Malaysia, Philippines. Fulbright Specialist in Nepal.
* Ian Axford Public Policy Scholar in New Zealand.
* Member of the NASA's Return to Flight Task Group assembled in response to the Columbia space shuttle accident.
* Peace Corps Response Volunteer, Ifugao Philippines, teaching research methods to faculty on remote campuses. Nominated by Peace Corps Philippines for the Lillian Carter Award for Outstanding Peace Corps Volunteer Over the Age of 50, 2019-2020.
* Selected academic leadership positions:
** Director, School of Public Affairs & Administration, University of Kansas
** Co-Director, Program for the Advancement of Research in Conflict and Collaboration (Institute Director - PARCC), Maxwell School of Syracuse University
** Co-Founder, E-PARCC: Free, open-source online cases and simulations on collaboration
** Co-Founder, Collaborative Governance Initiative, Maxwell School of Syracuse University
** Director, Ph.D Program, Maxwell School of Syracuse University