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Awarded for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of public administration.

Award Committee: Allan Rosenbaum, Chair, Florida International University; Richard C. Feiock, Florida State University; Lael R. Keiser, University of Missouri, Columbia

Recipient: Matthew Dull, Virginia Tech University

Dissertation Title: “The Politics of Results: Comprehensive Reform and Institutional Choice”

Dissertation Chair: David Canon, University of Wisconsin

Citation: The recipient of this year's Leonard D. White Award for the outstanding dissertation in the field of public administration is "the Politics of Results: Comprehensive Reform and Institutional Choice" by Matthew Dull which was submitted by the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This dissertation is a fitting recipient of an award named in honor of Leonard White in that it focuses upon an issue that is of much significance for understanding the manner in which democratic government functions in the United States and utilizes a comprehensive, wide-ranging multi-disciplinary approach to public administration scholarship to do so.

By examining from multiple perspectives the origin and implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act and the Program Assessment Rating Tool, Dr. Dull's research provides important new insights into not only issues of what motivates and facilitates or impedes governmental management reform, but also about the nature of human behavior in complex bureaucratic situations. Finally, it should be noted that the selection of Dr. Dull's dissertation provides ample evidence that the future of research in the field of public administration is in excellent hands. Not only is it a superb effort, but it was selected from among a very strong group of nominees.