Praising his performance over the last two years, Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele G. Wheatly today announced that David M. Van Slyke has been reappointed dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Today’s announcement follows a comprehensive decanal review that took into account the feedback of Maxwell faculty and staff, the Maxwell Advisory Board and the Maxwell Faculty Council. Van Slyke’s appointment was approved by the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee.
“David has performed at an extraordinary level over the last two years,” says Wheatly. “He has exceeded expectations—both quantitatively and qualitatively—and has demonstrated that his leadership is exactly what the Maxwell School requires in the years ahead. I am proud to reappoint him dean and am confident the Maxwell School will continue to flourish with David at the helm.”
During the review process, Van Slyke, who is also the Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business-Government Policy, was widely praised for his personal integrity, credibility and responsiveness. Those who reviewed him described him as a strong advocate for the Maxwell School, a good communicator who is open to the new ideas and a leader who is willing to address difficult issues.
“Serving as dean of the Maxwell School has been a rewarding professional experience, challenging work and an opportunity for which I am deeply appreciative,” says Van Slyke. “It is gratifying to work with Maxwell’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, and I look forward to collaborating with them as we continue to build on the school’s historic foundation of success and embark on an exciting future across all of our undergraduate and graduate programs.”
During his two years as dean, Van Slyke has helped the school reach new heights. For example, he oversaw the creation of several new initiatives involving partners on campus and beyond, including: leading the first Maxwell School academic strategic planning exercise; implementing the Maxwell/2U Executive Masters of Public Administration program; developing a new Integrated Learning Major (ILM) in environment, sustainability and policy; and launching an executive master’s in international relations in Washington, D.C. From an administrative perspective, Van Slyke and his team doubled fundraising from the prior year, which included soliciting and securing gifts totaling nearly $8 million; re-energized and reconstituted the Maxwell Advisory Board; founded a student advisory council; established a new, additional associate dean position to provide increased capacity within the dean’s office; hired 20 new faculty members; and appointed five faculty leaders to new or existing endowed or funded chairs and professorships.
Van Slyke began serving as dean of the Maxwell School on July 1, 2016. Prior to that, he was associate dean and chair of Maxwell’s Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, home to one of the country’s top-ranked graduate degrees in public affairs. He is a tenured, full professor of the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences and a two-time recipient of the Birkhead-Burkhead Award and Professorship for Teaching Excellence.
Van Slyke is a leading international expert on public-private partnerships, public sector contracting, and policy implementation. He is director and fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a former co-editor of two academic journals and sits on the editorial boards of several top-ranked public affairs journals. He has provided expert guidance to the Office of Management and Budget, the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Coast Guard and the World Bank. As part of his work and research he has worked extensively with senior leaders in government, nonprofit and business organizations in China, India, Peru, Singapore, Thailand and many other countries through the Maxwell School’s Executive Education program.
Van Slyke’s most recent book, “Complex Contracting: Government Purchasing in the Wake of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program” (Cambridge University Press, 2013) is the recipient of the American Society for Public Administration Section on Research Best Book Award for 2014 and honorable mention for the Public and Nonprofit Section of the Academy of Management best book award for 2016. He is winner of the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus in Public Administration and Policy award from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy and the 2007 Beryl Radin Award for Best Article published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.
Van Slyke earned a Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Prior to his career in academia, he worked in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
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