DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Dr. Bob Bland, professor and chair of the University of North Texas Department of Public Administration, has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organization that provides expert advice to Congress and federal agencies.

Bland – who was chosen based on his teaching, research and public service -- will be inducted as a fellow at the organization’s Annual Conference Nov. 15-16 in Washington, D.C. He is the only newly elected fellow from Texas this year.

“I work with a group of faculty and staff in public administration who share a vision that professional education, infused with a commitment to integrity, is essential to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public and nonprofit organizations,” Bland said. “My selection as a National Academy of Public Administration fellow is another distinction among several held by my colleagues that together conveys the quality of education we provide to the citizens of Texas and the nation.”

The more than 700 fellows in the National Academy of Public Administration include current or former members of Congress, presidential cabinet members, governors, mayors, city or county managers and others.

“Bob's election as a fellow is a reflection not only of his own sterling national reputation but also of the strength of the Department of Public Administration,” said Charldean Newell, Regents Professor Emerita of Public Administration at UNT and a National Academy of Public Administration fellow.

Bland joins these other National Academy members at UNT: Alan Needleman and Jim Williams in the National Academy of Engineering; Richard Dixon, who will join UNT in February, in the National Academy of Sciences; and Jerry Thomas, James Morrow Jr., and Allen Jackson in the National Academy of Kinesiology. 

Bland joined the UNT faculty in 1982 and helped establish the Department of Public Administration. He serves as the department’s first chair and teaches courses in government finance management, revenue policy and governmental budgeting. Bland is the author or co-author of five books, and his articles on local tax policy, the municipal bond market and governmental budgeting have appeared in a number of journals. In 2007, he received the Terrell Blodgett Academician Award from the Texas City Management Association. That same year, he received the Stephen B. Sweeney Academic Award from the International City/County Management Association.

Last year, the department’s master of public administration program celebrated its 50th anniversary since its founding. It also saw an increase in its national rankings by U.S. News & World Report, moving to eighth in the nation, and the top program in Texas, in the field of city and local government management. This year, the department’s undergraduate program in Emergency Administration and Planning, the first of its kind in the nation, is celebrating its 30th anniversary since it was founded.

Bland received a bachelor's degree in biology from Pepperdine University, master of public administration and master of business administration degrees from the University of Tennessee and doctoral degree in public affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

To download a high-resolution image of Bland, visit http://news.unt.edu/image-galleries/image/bob-bland.