Rosemary O'Leary is the Director of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Kansas (KU), one of the highest ranked programs in local government management in the world. She is also the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor at KU. Previously she was on the faculty of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University (Phanstiel Chair) and at Indiana University-Bloomington (Professor). She was the creator and coordinator of the Minnowbrook III conferences that assessed the future of public administration around the world. O'Leary is the author or editor of 12 books and more than 130 articles and book chapters on public management. She is the winner of 16 national research awards, including 7 senior scholar awards. She is also the winner of 10 teaching awards. She is the only person to win 3 Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration awards for Best Dissertation, Excellence in Teaching, and Distinguished Research. An experienced university leader, O'Leary is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration. She was a senior Fulbright scholar in Malaysia and in the Philippines. She was also an Ian Axford Public Policy Scholar in New Zealand. O'Leary was a member of the NASA's Return to Flight Task Group assembled in response to the Columbia space shuttle accident where she was awarded the NASA Public Service Medal for her efforts. O'Leary was President of the Public Management Research Association from 2017 to 2019.
