PA Prof Named to National Academy

Professor Kelly LeRoux

Kelly LeRoux, professor of public administration, is one of 39 leaders in the field of public administration who have been selected for the National Academy of Public Administration’s 2021 Class of Academy Fellows.

Induction of the new fellows will occur during the academy’s annual fall meeting, which will take place virtually and in-person at five host sites across the country Nov. 3-9.

LeRoux conducts research on nonprofits role in public service delivery, nonprofit political activities, government contracting, and intergovernmental collaboration.

Her research has been widely published in top-ranked public administration, policy, urban studies, and nonprofit journals. She has published 35 peer-reviewed articles, seven book chapters, and three books, including co-authored “Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society in the United States” (2015) and “Performance and Public Value in the Hollow State” (2021).

Her research has been sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kresge Foundation, the Institute for Policy on Civic Engagement, the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, and the Great Cities Institute at UIC.

LeRoux, who has worked at UIC since 2010, is director of graduate studies in the department of public administration and associate dean for faculty affairs and research in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

Prior to her academic career, she worked for 11 years as an administrator for a nonprofit behavioral health and housing organization and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.

Selection of the academy’s new fellows follows a rigorous review of the individual’s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. A Fellows Nominating Committee, selected by the academy’s board chair, makes its recommendations to the full fellowship, which then votes on those individuals nominated to be a fellow.

The 2021 class joins more than 940 Academy Fellows — including former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, business executives, nonprofit leaders and public administrators.

Chartered by Congress to provide nonpartisan expert advice, the National Academy of Public Administration is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization established in 1967 to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent organizations.