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Merget selected to lead IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs
July 21, 2000
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Astrid E. Merget has been selected dean of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), pending approval by the Trustees of Indiana University. She is expected to assume her new responsibilities Oct. 1.
"Indiana University is fortunate indeed to attract Dr. Astrid Merget to be the new dean of SPEA," said IU President Myles Brand. "Dr. Merget has had excellent experience as a faculty member and academic administrator at the Maxwell School, which is among the leaders in public administration, as well as in high-level federal posts. SPEA's tradition of excellence will be enhanced further, I fully expect, with Dr. Merget's leadership."
Pointing to her strong academic and professional credentials, Gerald Bepko, IU vice president for long-range planning and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis chancellor, said, "Dr. Merget will bring to the deanship a thorough knowledge of academic administration and strong executive talents."
Merget is currently associate dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and chair of its Department of Public Administration.
"I am very honored to be recommended for this position," Merget said. "I have had a long association with SPEA and know that the school has tremendous assets in its faculty and students."
Merget earned her baccalaureate degree from Mount Holyoke College and her master of public affairs degree and doctorate from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse. She has held faculty appointments at the Ohio State University, George Washington University, the University of Southern California and Columbia University.
She has served in high-level advisory roles in the federal government as well. While on a year's leave from her academic responsibilities in 1994, Merget served as senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. That marked a return to Washington, D.C., for Merget. She served as a special assistant to the assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1977.
Having studied government from inside and outside, Merget believes schools like SPEA play a vital role in providing public agencies at all levels of government with highly skilled managers and employees.
"I think all sectors -- public, private and non-profit -- have a vested interest in having good governmental management that is effective, creative and honest and that can be a pathfinder in different areas like policies affecting the environment," she said.
The IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, located on six IU campuses, is committed to teaching, research and service in areas such as criminal justice, environmental science, health administration and public policy.
The school maintains continuing relations with a large number of public agencies at all levels of government; public and private hospitals and health organizations; nonprofit organizations; and corporations in the private sector. SPEA has earned national distinction for innovative educational programs that combine administrative, social, economic, financial and environmental disciplines. The school's faculty are recognized worldwide for their research and service to federal, state, local and foreign governments, and to nonprofit agencies.
(Lyn Mettler, 317-274-7711, mettler@iupui.edu or Sandra Bate, 812-856-5490, sbate@indiana.edu)