Final Week of MPA

It’s hard to imagine this will be the final week of school. While classes are all but done, just one more final to finish, this may very well be the last time I set foot on a university campus as a student. My experience here in Arizona has been great. I’ve been fortunate to have met many wonderful people. I can’t imagine what my experience would be like if I had stayed with my original choice to attend American University in Washington D.C. It would have been different that’s for sure.

As I made my way through my MPA I met many people that went through the same program. I was somewhat shocked to learn that many of the professors at ASU’s School of Public Affairs had been there for a very long time. They have taught generations of public administrators and sadly several of them have left or will leave soon. This year seems to mark the end of an era that ushered in the new downtown campus, established one of preeminent MPA fellowship programs, attracted ICMA and the Alliance for Innovation to ASU, and gain legitimacy by ranking in the top 10 programs for public administration and urban management. I started to think of the changes the School of Public Affairs has gone through in the last two years and the people that made it such a unique school. Below is a partial list of people I can remember.

Frank Sakton, Professor Emeritus: Professor Sakton passed away this early this year and while I never had the honor of taking one of his classes I heard many great things about him. He continued to teach and serve on dissertation comities despite being in his 90’s. He will be missed and truly a lost to ASU.

Larry Terry: many of us remember Professor Terry as a rigorous yet fun professor. He was an exceptional professor and though he left before I could have a class with him I remember having great conversations every time I ran into the hall with him. He moved NY and teaches at Long Island University if I remember correctly.

Edgar Ramirez: he was another professor I never had but got to know during my time with the Alliance. He was great to talk to and was passionate about the subject he taught. He eventually took a position with a university in Mexico City.

Ronald Perry: Professor Perry finally took the plunge and decided to retire last year. He was a great professor and I will always remember some of the conversations I had with him in his office. I was in his 502 class last spring, the last class he would teach and still remember how good his cookies were. He was a funny man who really knew his stuff. It was all the more amazing how many people knew him outside the university.

Heather Campbell: Sadly I had 502 with Professor Perry but I was looking forward to taking her 505 class before they pulled it from the schedule and had to take it with another professor. She’s leaving the school now and it’s a real blow to the school because she was a great methods and public policy professor. Wish he well at Claremont.

Nan Ellin: was director of the urban and metropolitan studies program at the school. She left the School of Public Affairs to move down the street and become the Planning Program Director for the School of Geographical Sciences and Planning

Robert Denhardt: He ushered in the school into a new campus, established the Marvin Andrews Graduate program, brought the Alliance for Innovation to ASU, apparently can sing pretty good too from what I’ve been told. He steps down now as director of the school and looks forward to traveling and spending time in his home Washington.

Listing all these people and knowing how small our school is compared to other programs, I start to wonder what will become of the school. Other professors will likely retire soon too. Professor Chapman will retire in a couple of years and it’s reasonable to assume that Professor Cayer and Professor Hall may do so as well. Regardless I’ve had a great experience and learn so much from many of the professors I’ve come to know in classes and through conversations in the hallways.