UD's Lewis to receive Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award
8:22 a.m., May 25, 2011--Jerome Lewis, associate professor and director of the Institute for Public Administration in the School of Public Policy and Administration
(SPPA) at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the
Public Service Achievement Award from Common Cause Delaware in honor of
his 40-year career of supporting good government and inspiring young
students to pursue careers in public service.
Lewis will be recognized at the 2011 Good Government Dinner Awards on
Monday, June 6, at 6 p.m., at the Christiana Hilton in Newark. Tickets
to attend can be purchased online.
The Public Service Achievement Award honors individuals who by force
of imagination, initiative and perseverance have made outstanding
contributions to the public interest in the areas of government
performance and integrity.
Jerome is the consummate description of the Public Service
Achievement Awards, says SPPA Director Maria Aristigueta. He works
tirelessly and creatively to make sure that our students are provided
with the integration of academics and professional experience to make
significant contributions to the work of government.
Widely recognized for his contributions to the policy, planning and
management needs of various partners throughout the state, Lewis joined
the University faculty in 1969 and, four years later, founded the Institute for Public Administration,
a research and public service center that has impacted public policy
throughout the state and region for more than four decades.
He also created the Legislative Fellows Program,
a flagship internship program that links the research needs of the
state legislature with UD students, who work directly with legislators
on complex public policy issues.
The program which has been praised by state senators as a national
model, due in perhaps equal parts to the creativity and hard work of
Jerome and his staff, [and] to the high caliber of students who have
participated is currently in its 30th year of partnership with the
Delaware General Assembly.
Through his tireless efforts, Jerome has enriched the lives of our
students, University and state, says George Watson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Generations of state and regional leaders have learned at Jeromes
knee the skills and sensitivities needed to be effective in public
office. Under his guidance, the Institute for Public Administration has
had a major impact on the quality of life in Delaware and the
surrounding states for more than 40 years.
Jeff Raffel, Common Cause chair and Charles P. Messick Professor of
Public Administration at UD, adds, I am thrilled to recognize Jerome
Lewis as a faculty member who has combined high quality
experiential-based teaching with a four-decade commitment to the public
service, land-grant mission of the University of Delaware.
Lewis has previously been honored
by the Delaware senate for being one of the best and most effective
ambassadors and advocates the University of Delaware has in Dover.
The Common Cause awards dinner will also recognize former U.S. Rep.
Michael Castle, who will receive the John Gardner Lifetime Achievement
Award.
Castle is the 2011 spring Commencement speaker for the University.
Article by Artika Rangan
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson
Originally published by UDaily.