News
Public Administration’s Whitney Brown named ASPA Founders Fellow
by Tiff Murray-Roberts
Whitney Brown, a second-year graduate student in Public Administration, has been selected as a 2022 Founders’ Fellow by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA).
"The MPA program at the Wilder School has developed my ability to think both critically and intensively,” said Brown. “I am grateful to Dean Gooden and the Public Administration program for providing the support and encouragement needed to not only apply, but also be awarded a 2021 ASPA Founders’ Fellowship."
ASPA is the leading interdisciplinary public service organization that advances the art, science, teaching and practice of public and nonprofit administration. Its members come from all areas of public administration: civil servants, city managers, elected and appointed officials, researchers, scholars, thought leaders, nonprofit managers and more.
ASPA launched the program in 2006 to support the next generation of public service leaders through a series of professional development opportunities. Fellows are paired with a mentor and attend and present at the annual conference on a subject matter paper on an issue related to their scholarship, which is also published in PA TIMES Online if they wish. Whitney will present her paper, "The Future of Power: Administration Transistions" at the conference which will be held March 18-22 in Jacksonville, FL.
“We are extremely proud that Whitney has been selected as a 2022 ASPA Founders Fellow,” said Myung Jin, chair of the public administration program. He noted that the awarding of the fellowship is an honor for both Brown and the Wilder School’s MPA program. “The Founders Fellowship is a highly competitive, national program and Whitney is the 17th student to have been selected since the inception of the program. Our overall success with the Founders Fellowship is a testament to the strength and rigor of the Wilder School’s MPA curriculum.”
Brown, who received her undergraduate degree in Legal Studies, Public Policy and Government Services from Penn State University, was named a Governor’s Fellow in 2021 and served as a special assistant under the Secretary of Administration.