Media Contact:
Dr. Richard C. Kearney, 919/515-2481
Lauren Kirkpatrick, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 919/513-1829

July 5, 2006

NC State Announces New School of Public and International Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Richard C. Kearney

A new school at North Carolina State University will serve as the home to approximately 1,000 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and training-program students preparing for careers in public service.

The School of Public and International Affairs, launched on July 1, is housed within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and encompasses the departments of political science and public administration, the international studies graduate program, and the public safety leadership initiative.

“NC State has been preparing students for careers in public service for more than three decades through its Department of Political Science and Public Administration,” said Dr. Richard C. Kearney, the school’s director. “The work being done here has outstripped the department’s boundaries and outgrown its institutional confines.
 
“The School of Public and International Affairs reflects the reality of our presence and our potential. The school will provide an intellectual center for strengthening, promoting, and contributing to public policy and international programs across the university, as well as research and services for those engaged in public affairs across the state and nation, particularly in political arenas.”

Provost Larry Nielsen announced Kearney’s appointment.

“Rick Kearney came highly recommended to us as a collaborator and builder,” Nielsen said. “At the three public universities where he has worked, he demonstrated innovative academic and institutional leadership, solid administrative and communication skills, success in grants, contracts, and external fundraising, and effective interactions with university, community, state, and professional organizations. We are pleased to welcome him to NC State and are confident that he will build on the strengths of our political science and public administration programs through the School of Public and International Affairs.”

Kearney served as professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at East Carolina University for eight years. He directed the Master of Public Affairs program and the Institute of Public and Urban Affairs at the University of Connecticut from 1990 to 1998. He began his career at the University of South Carolina in 1978, and left as a full professor in 1990.

Kearney holds a Ph.D. in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma. His scholarly and applied research focuses on public administration, state and local politics, and public policy. He specializes in human resource management, labor relations, and state and local government. He is co-author of State and Local Government.