Rich brings very broad experience from a leading public
administration program, research and teaching on governance issues
and leadership that span the public and private sectors, as well as
non-profit and government work. Combine all that with a lifelong
appreciation of the Jesuit mission originating during his
undergraduate days at Georgetown and we have the makings of a great
colleague.
Rich has studied (MPA and DPA) and had worked at the University
of Southern California for more than a decade. As associate dean or
director, he has led the University's State Capitol and
Leadership Programs, Executive Master of Leadership program, and
the Doctoral Program in Policy, Planning, and Development. In
addition, Rich served the National Association of Schools of Public
Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) as a site accreditation team
member and had taken a national leadership role. Regionally, he has
led the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA),
Sacramento Chapter. In the past year, he received the Chester A.
Newland Award for Academic Excellence from ASPA's
Sacramento chapter and has recently been awarded a Fulbright
Specialist short-term award to continue his work in Istanbul,
Turkey.
Rich's USC teaching in both Sacramento and Los Angeles
has covered a range of graduate courses in leadership,
organizational theory and public management. He has also taught
innovative courses which span the sectors: "Leading Transformations
Across Sectors," "Public and Nonprofit Leadership," and
"Cross-Sectoral Governance." The Graduate Student Association at
USC's School of Policy, Planning, and Development honored
Rich with the "Professor of the Year" award in 2007, and he took
first place for his syllabus design in "The National Networks
Project" organized by Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania
for incorporating network thinking into the teaching of public
management.
Designing and implementing executive education and
organizational development programs, as well as performing public
service, have been key parts of Rich's professional work
while at USC. This has brought him research grants and awards from
the Haynes Foundation, the IBM Center for the Business of
Government in Washington, D.C., USC Bedrosian Center, and from
Microsoft. He has worked with the University Consortium on
Collaborative Governance on a case study workshop on economic
recovery for the Office of the Vice President of the United States;
California State Little Hoover Commission; Urban League of
Sacramento; and U.S. Agency for International Development among
many others. He has been awarded more than a dozen grants for
research and planning for workforce and leadership development.
Over the past five years, he has participated in more than 50
education programs for the public, private and nonprofit sectors,
as well as internationally supporting university programs in
Turkey, Mexico, and Zambia.
Rich has also made important scholarly contributions to his
field. Notable are his two sole-authored pieces in Public
Administration Review, without question the leading journal in the
field: "Challenges of (Dis) Connectedness in the 'Big
Question Methodologies' in Public Administration" (2001)
and "Governance: The Collision of Politics and Cooperation" (2007).
He also has co-authored two journal articles, a book chapter and
three monographs. One of the field's leading speakers,
Rich has given keynotes for the California Police Chief's
Association, United States Air Force Academy and the state-wide
Arizona Town Hall.
Prior to his academic career, Rich worked as the chief
administrative officer for a non-profit health clinic, as a voting
member of the LA County Transportation Commission, as Deputy
Supervisor for a member of the LA County Board of Supervisors, and
as a township administrator in New Jersey.
