Rosemary O'Leary

Rosemary O'Leary is the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on public management, collaboration, conflict resolution, environmental and natural resources management, and public law.

Rosemary O'Leary was appointed the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Kansas in 2013, 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). O'Leary is the author or editor of 12 books and more than 125 articles and book chapters on public management, and she has won 12 national research awards and 10 teaching awards. She is also the only person to win three National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration awards for Best Dissertation (1989), Excellence in Teaching (1996), and Distinguished Research (2004). O’Leary is President-Elect of the Public Management Research Association, taking office in July 2017.

• Routledge Award (for “outstanding contribution to public management research”) given by the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM), 2017.
• 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, 2016.
• 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, 2014.
• Co-Author of “One of 75 Most Influential Articles since 1940” Commendation from Public Administration Review (with L. Bingham and T. Nabatchi), 2014.
• 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, 2007.
• 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), 2005.
• Elected Fellow, U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, 1998.

• Rosemary O’Leary, The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government, 2nd edition. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 158 pp. (2014); First edition (2006).
  • Coined the term "guerrilla government" to describe public servants who clandestinely disobey the wishes of their superiors in order to do what they think is right (e.g., Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning).
  • The ideas in this book have been presented in 8 countries.
• David Rosenbloom, Rosemary O'Leary, and Joshua Chan, Public Administration and Law, 3rd edition. New York: CRC Press 329 pp. (2010). Previous edition: David Rosenbloom and Rosemary O'Leary, Public Administration and Law, 2nd edition. New York: Marcel Dekker, 344 pp. (1997). Translated into Chinese (2005).
• Rosemary O'Leary, Robert Durant, Daniel Fiorino, and Paul Weiland, Managing For the Environment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 436 pp. (1999).
  • Winner of the “Best Book in Public and Non-Profit Management” Award, given by the Academy of Management, 2000.
  • Winner of the “Best Book in Environmental and Natural Resources Administration” Award, given by the American Society for Public Administration, 1999.
• Rosemary O’Leary and Catherine Gerard, Collaboration Across Boundaries: Insights and Tips from Federal Senior Executives. IBM Center for the Business of Government, 50 pp. (2012).
• Rosemary O’Leary and Lisa Blomgren Bingham, A Manager’s Guide to Resolving Conflicts in Collaborative Networks. IBM Center for the Business of Government, 50 pp. (2007).
• Amy Kneedler Donahue and Rosemary O’Leary, “Do Shocks Change Organizations? The Case of NASA.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (lead article), 22, 395-425 (2012).
• Rosemary O’Leary, Yujin Choi, and Catherine Gerard. “The Skill Set of the Successful Collaborator” Public Administration Review, 72 (S1) 70-83 (2012).
• Rosemary O’Leary and Nidhi Vij. “Collaborative Public Management: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?" American Review of Public Administration, 42, 507-522 (2012).
• Rosemary O’Leary, “Guerrilla Employees: Should Managers Nurture, Tolerate, or Terminate Them?” Public Administration Review, 70 (1) 8 – 18 (January/February 2010).

• Creator and coordinator of the Minnowbrook III conference (2008) which assessed the future of public administration around the world.
• Elected member of the National Academy of Public Administration.
• Senior Fulbright scholar in Malaysia and in the Philippines.
• Ian Axford Public Policy Scholar in New Zealand (2014).
• Member of the NASA’s Return to Flight Task Group assembled in response to the Columbia space shuttle accident (2003-2005).
• Served as a consultant to:
  • U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Federal Executive Institute
  • U.S. Council on Environmental Quality
  • U.S. Department of Interior
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • U.S. Geological Survey
  • U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • International City/County Management Association
  • National Academy of Sciences
  • National Science Foundation
  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Indiana Department of Environmental Management
  • U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
  • LMI Consulting
• Selected academic leadership positions:
  • Executive Committee and Board of Directors, University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc (KUCR)
  • Senior Administrative Fellow, University of Kansas 2015-2016
  • Co-Director, Program for the Advancement of Research in Conflict and Collaboration (Institute Director - PARCC), Maxwell School of Syracuse University 2004-2009
  • Co-Founder, E-PARCC: Free, open-source online cases and simulations on collaboration 2004
  • Co-Founder, Collaborative Governance Initiative, Maxwell School of Syracuse University 2004
  • Interim Director, Campbell Institute, Syracuse University, 2000-2001
  • Co-Director, Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute, 1997–1998
  • Director, Ph.D. Program, University of Kansas, 2013-2014
  • Director, Ph.D Program, Maxwell School of Syracuse University, 2001-2004
  • Chair, Environmental Administration Section, American Society for Public Administration 1995
  • Chair, Public Administration Section, American Political Science Association 1994