Biographical Information

Academic Positions

Personal

Research Focus

Honors, Awards

Professional Activities

Academic Administration

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• Mel Dubnick has been professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire, since the fall of 2005.
  • From September 2003 to June 2005 he was Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow at the Queen's University Belfast Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research and he remained associated with Queen's as a International Research Fellow for the next year.
  • From 1992 to 2005 he was professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Rutgers University - Newark and was designated professor emeritus upon his departure from RU-N.
  • He had previously held full-time academic positions at Baurch College/CUNY, the University of Kansas, Loyola University of Chicago, and Emporia Kansas State University.
  • He also holds or has held adjunct positions at the University of Northern Colorado, Southern Colorado State College. the School of Public Affairs of Baruch College/CUNY, the Advanced Programs MPA faculty at the University of Oklahoma, and the Columbia University's School of International & Public Affairs,

  • Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Dubnick considers Pueblo, Colorado (where he attended high school and college, and where he met his wife) his hometown (despite having lived in Brooklyn, Newark NJ and Media PA before his family settled in Southern Colorado). 
  • He graduated with honors from Southern Colorado State College (now Colorado State University-Pueblo) in 1968, and earned his M.A. (1969) and Ph.D. (1974) in political science at the University of Colorado - Boulder. His dissertation focused on the underlying themes ("images") of thirty Third World development plans.
  • He has lived in Beverly, MA since 1997. His wife, Randa, a PhD in comparative literature (Colorado) and noted expert on the writings of Getrude Stein, is a former college administrator who now operates her own publication services business while maintaining an active interest in art and literature. His daughter, Heather, has a PhD in Spanish literautre (Johns Hopkins) as well as MLS (Simmons), and also operates an editorial services business. Son Philip is a graduate of Berklee College of music and is a singer/songwriter, music producer and teacher in the Beverly area.
For nearly three decades, Dubnick's scholarly work has focused on accountability and governance in the public, non-profit and private sectors. He is especially concerned with the conceptual and ressearch issues surrounding accountability and how to develop a more realistic and credible approach to governance reforms aimed at enhancing accountability. Dubnick is the co-author of textbooks on public policy analysis, public administration, and American government. In addition to his work on government accountability systems, his scholarly publications include articles on a wide range of topics, including Third World development planning, health care reform, government regulatory policies, intergovernmental relations, industrial policy, administrative reform, and teaching administrative ethics.
He was the co-recipient of the 1987 William E. and Frederick C. Mosher Award for a co-authored article published in Public Administration Review, "Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons From the Challenger Tragedy."  He also received the 2000 Laverne Burchfield Award for the best book review article in PAR's volume 60.  He has also been honored with the Thomas R. Dye Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Policy Studies (Policy Studies Organization, 1996), the Aaron Wildavsky Book Award (Policy Studies Organization, 1997), as well as awards for outstanding academic achievements from the New Jersey (1996) and Metropolitan New York (1991) Chapters of the American Society for Public Administration.
He has held various administrative and governance positions in academe, including director of the UNH MPA program (2005-2007), acting chair of the Rutgers-Newark Graduate Department of Public Administration (1999-2000), director of the Rutger's MPA program (1998-2000), chair of the Department of Public Administration at Baruch College/CUNY (1988-1992), faculty senate president and senate executive committee chair at the Kansas University (1986-1988), and director of KU's MPA program (1982-1983).
    • CV (December 2011)