Newman honored twice by Public Administration peers in March

Meredith Newman, senior associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and professor of Public Administration, was twice honored in the month of March for her contributions as a woman leader.

Newman was among the elite group of recipients for the Glass Ceiling Awards at the fourth annual Florida Women’s Conference, hosted by the National Diversity Council on March 7 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

A week later, Newman received the Joan Fiss Bishop Leadership Award from the Section for Women in Public Administration during its annual awards breakfast during the American Society for Public Administration’s conference in Washington D.C. Both awards recognize Newman’s career-long commitment to public administration, both in the public and academic sectors.

Meredith Newman, third from left, receives the Joan Fiss Bishop Leadership Award from the Section for Women in Public Administration.

“I’m gratified to receive these awards,” Newman said. “I am the beneficiary of really good mentoring and a supportive work and family life. I am particularly proud of the ASPA Joan Fiss Bishop Leadership Award and being recognized by my peers.”

Newman joined the faculty at FIU in 2006 as the director of the School of Public Administration. She was later named chair of the Department of Public Administration when it joined the School of International and Public Affairs in Arts & Sciences. Prior to FIU, Newman spent time at the University of Illinois at Springfield and Washington State University, Vancouver.

Prior to her career in academia, Newman served with the Australian Foreign Service in France and Vietnam and spent eight years with the United States Department of State, serving as an administrative officer in American embassies in Singapore, Malaysia and Senegal. She also served as a bilingual administrative officer for the World Bank.

Newman was awarded her Ph.D. in Policy Studies and her B.A. in Political Science by Deakin University in Australia and her Master of Public Administration degree by the University of Central Florida.

She is widely published in the areas of public management, human resources, and the emotive aspects of work, having written two books as well as more than 50 articles, book chapters, numerous reviews and other publications. Her books have won several awards, including the Best Book Award of the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division.

An active member of the profession, Newman is past chair of the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, serves as vice president for North America of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, and is past president of the American Society for Public Administration.  She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.