MPA News 

Rosemary O’Leary, a renowned researcher and professor in the public management field, received the 2023 Gary C. Cornia Lecture Series Award from the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business. O’Leary, who has written 13 books and more than 135 articles on public management, presented her work on ethics and guerilla government at the award luncheon.

In December 2022, BYU Marriott alum Scott Adams retired as CEO of Pullman Regional Hospital in Washington state. Reflecting on 30 years of dedicated service, Adams recalls the opportunities that he had to unite and improve the Pullman community. Adams’s efforts to create an inclusive, people-centered culture in the hospital had rippling effects that will be felt in Pullman for many years to come.

Chris Coombs enjoys charting his own course. After working for politicians in Utah and studying theology in Boston, Coombs followed his intuition to the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

William Livingston, an MPA student, has been named the 2022 Buckwalter Internship Award recipient by the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics. Livingston received official recognition, along with the $1,500 award, during the program's Alumni of the Year dinner on November 10, 2022.

As an undergraduate student at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 1983, Brad Agle was puzzled and intrigued by why people act unethically. After amassing renowned expertise in the field, Agle returned to the school in 2009 as a professor, where he now helps students crack tough ethical questions.

Larry Walters discovered early in his life that serving others brought him great joy. He put in effort to turn that love into a career, and now, as an emeritus faculty member of the BYU Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics, Walters can see how his love of public service has spread to others and made the world a better place.

Mick Berry, retired manager of Catawba County, was honored at the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics MPA Alumnus of the Year dinner. During the event, he emphasized the importance of changing the world through Christlike leadership.

For Sue Mika, the executive MPA program in the BYU Marriott School of Business is more than just a program— it’s a connection to someone she loves and respects: her grandfather and namesake of the program, George W. Romney. Now, as a second-year EMPA student, Mika shares a unique bond with her late grandfather.

During her time at BYU, Chauma Jansen received a scholarship from American Indian Services for her undergraduate studies. That scholarship helped her through school, and she was able to receive both her bachelor’s degree in sociology and master’s degree in public administration from BYU. Twenty years later, as a BYU Marriott alumna and the executive director of American Indian Services, Jansen works to assist others in the same way she was helped.

A self-proclaimed “daddy’s girl,” Ruth Ann Jefferies followed her father into a public service career. While Jefferies pursued the field because of her father’s example, she has been a trailblazer herself, including becoming BYU Marriott’s first female MPA graduate in 1971 and establishing an extensive career at various levels of government.

Richard Amon, who graduated from the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2005, continually strives to help students in their pursuit of higher education. He now works as the vice chancellor of business affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the leading organization for current and future local-government professionals, recently named the ICMA chapter at the BYU Marriott School of Business as the second-place winner of the 2022 Student Chapter Best Event Contest.

On March 31, 2022, the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business held a luncheon to honor the newest recipient of the Gary C. Cornia Lecturer Series award, which is named after a former dean of BYU Marriott. The award was given to Ram Cnaan, the director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.

At an end-of-year banquet held on April 7, 2022, for students graduating from the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, MPA graduate Tamsyn Randall received the Garth N. Jones Writing award. The award, including a $1,000 cash prize, was given to Randall by the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at BYU Marriott in recognition of her writing excellence.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian has announced Rob Christensen as the next director of the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics. Christensen took over for the previous director, Lori Wadsworth, on July 1, 2022.  

As a new vocal performance college graduate, Kortney Wall Gong dreamed of being on the stage. However, after spending two decades working in business and now as a third-year student in the executive MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, she has a new dream: becoming an executive director of a nonprofit organization.

U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro recently accepted the 2022 Administrator of the Year Award. This award is presented annually by the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

When she ended her 30-year-long career at the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business, emeritus faculty member Gloria Wheeler knew she wanted to continue serving others. Since leaving the institute in 2008, Wheeler has found countless ways to bless the lives of those around her, including serving five full- or part-time missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Stuttgart, Germany, Ross Storey was planning on being a graphic designer when he returned home. However, a conversation with a stranger he met on the street led Storey to change his plans, which eventually resulted in him working at the Provo Missionary Training Center and teaching as an adjunct experience design and management professor at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

When she learned that a supervisor position would be opening where she worked, Ana Malafu-Eliesa decided to enroll in the executive MPA (EMPA) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business. However, shortly before she graduated in 2007, an unexpected event changed her life—and career path—forever.