Politics Professor Appointed Head of McCarthy Center
Patrick Murphy, appointed in January as the new head of the McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, said he hopes to invigorate the center into a hub of student activity and research, regionally and even internationally.
“I’d like it to be a presence on campus and attract students and energize them,” Murphy said. “Even if it’s not their vocation, we hope to plant a seed of public service in students’ heads.”
Murphy said he envisions a support network for individual faculty research projects and courses that assist the community as part of their curriculum. Various campus groups such as the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management or the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps could also be allied organizations. Murphy said he would also like to continue student internships in local, state, or national government and eventually expand public service curriculum in USF’s overseas programs. “We’ve got a lot of talents and talented people. It’s a case of taking one more step,” Murphy said.
An associate professor and chair of the politics department, Murphy was asked by USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. in January to take over the center after the resignation of founding director Richard Spohn. Spohn said responsibility to his family has spurred him to pursue other career options. At the request of Fr. Privett, Spohn has agreed to stay on the McCarthy Center’s board of overseers.
“It’s been a grand, rollicking time of it,” Spohn said in an email. “I am delighted at the successful launching of the good ship McCarthy Center and thank profusely our university collaborators and our crack team at the center for all their devoted work. Sail on!”
Murphy said the center will use the $1 million in federal money it was awarded last fall for faculty research grants. Fundraising for the center will be ongoing, but he is “very optimistic” its project agenda and board of overseers (including former California Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy ’55, for whom the center was named; former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos; and retired judge William Newsom ’55, father of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom) will help.
Murphy brings to his position 13 years of public policy experience with the federal Office of Budget and Management and at Rand Corp., where he worked on drug policy reform. Recently, Murphy published a well-publicized report for the Public Policy Institute of California that maintains the state’s community college system is one of the most poorly funded in the nation even though it serves more students than California’s university or state university systems.
“Patrick Murphy brings to the McCarthy Center an academic career that has significantly affected public policy,” Fr. Privett said. “This is an individual who embodies USF's ideal of ‘excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service to the community.’”
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