Rosemary O'Leary

Rosemary O'Leary is a public policy researcher and teacher. She is most acknowledged for her scholarship exploring dissent in public organizations, collaboration to improve public service, and the impact of courts on public administration.

Career

Rosemary O'Leary is best known for her book, The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government.  Guerrilla government is O’Leary’s term for the actions taken by public servants who work against the wishes—either implicitly or explicitly communicated—of their superiors. Guerrilla government is a form of dissent carried out by those who are dissatisfied with the actions of public organizations, programs, or people but who typically choose strategically not to go public with their concerns in whole or in part. Guerrilla government is about the power of career bureaucrats, the tensions between career bureaucrats and political appointees, and what it means to act responsibly, ethically, and with integrity as a public servant. O’Leary illuminates the importance of dissent in public organizations, especially in times of political strife (e.g. during the Trump administration).

Other areas of research she has contributed to focused on the impact of courts on public policy and the importance of collaborating across boundaries to improve public services.  She co-created E-PARCC: Free, open-source online cases and simulations aimed to stimulate collaborative ways to creatively solve our most pressing public policy problems around the world.

A prolific author, she has won 13 national research awards and 2 international research awards, including 4 best books 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 awards for Best Dissertation (1989), Excellence in Teaching (1996), Distinguished Research (2004), and Excellence in Doctoral Education (2021). 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."

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).

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

Selected publications

• The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government, 3rd edition. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press (2020).
  • Winner of the "Best Book in Public and Non-Profit Management" Award, given by the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit division, 2021.
  • 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.
  • The ideas in this book have been presented in 8 countries.
• Retrofitting Collaboration Into the New Public Management (with E. Eppel, Cambridge University Press 2021)
• Managing For the Environment (with R. Durant, D. Fiorino, P. Weiland). Jossey-Bass, (1999).
  • Winner of the “Best Book in Public and Non-Profit Management” Award, given by the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit division, 2000.
  • Winner of the “Best Book in Environmental and Natural Resources Administration” Award, given by the American Society for Public Administration, 1999.
• Collaboration Across Boundaries: Insights and Tips from Federal Senior Executives (with C.Gerard). Washington. IBM Center for the Business of Government, (2012). Washington. IBM Center for the Business of Government, (2012)
• A Manager's Guide to Resolving Conflicts in Collaborative Network (with L.B.Bingham). Washington. IBM Center for the Business of Government, (2007). Washington. IBM Center for the Business of Government, (2007)

Notable Experience

• Creator and coordinator of the international Minnowbrook III conference (2008) which assessed 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.
• 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