Frances Berry

Biography

Dr. Frances Berry is the Reubin O’D. Askew Eminent Scholar and the Frank Sherwood Professor of Public Administration in the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. She was elected a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration in 2006. She was a Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of China in 2009. In 2014, she was given the Distinguished Research Award (2013), a joint award from American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), and the National Association of Schools of Public Administration and Policy (NASPAA), awarded annually to one scholar whose work has made a significant impact on the field of public administration. Dr. Berry served as Director of the Askew School from 2003-2009 and as MPA Director from 1998-2003. She joined the faculty at Florida State University in 1990.

Dr. Berry has had accomplished careers in both applied and academic settings. Before assuming a faculty position in 1990, Berry worked nearly fifteen years as a practitioner, starting as a legislative analyst in Minnesota and rising to the Director of Research and Executive Development for the Council of State Governments (CSG), where she managed a staff of seventy and administered committees on management and policy for governors, legislators and other senior state officials.

Prof. Berry’s expertise is in policy innovation and diffusion and change; program evaluation; strategic and performance management; and public policy. In the last five years, Dr. Berry has given invited talks at the MacArthur Foundation, many conferences and numerous universities in the U. S., Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan; and has served as an invited external reviewer for seven public administration programs at leading universities in the U. S. and Europe. She has conducted over forty management and policy consulting studies with state and local governments since 1990. She has written over fifty articles and chapters, and her research has been published in leading public administration and political science journals, including Public Administration Review, American Political Science Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, American Review of Public Administration, Public Performance and Management Review, and American Journal of Political Science. She serves on six leading public administration and political science editorial boards. She has also won a University teaching Award at FSU.

She has served the profession through a variety of prominent leadership positions in public administration professional organizations, including currently serving as Past President of the Public Management Research Association (PMRA) in 2015-2017, and as President of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) in 2011. She has also been President of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)’s section on Public Administration Research (SPAR), ASPA’s Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM), the North Florida Chapter of ASPA, and the Southeast Evaluation Association (SEA), and has served as Chair or on the executive boards of numerous public administration and public policy professional sections.

On campus at Florida State University, Dr. Berry has served as Chair of the FSU Commission on the Status of Women, chaired program reviews for the Graduate Policy Committee, and served as a member of the FSU Athletic Committee, including serving as Chair of the Academic Standards Subcommittee. She currently serves on the Askew School’s Policy and Ph.D. and MPA Committees, FSU’s Faculty Senate, FSU’s Fulbright Student Selection Committee, as Vice President to the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at FSU, and the College of Social Sciences’ Tenure and Promotion Committee. Berry received a B.A. (cum laude) in political science from Washington University (St. Louis) and a Masters in Public Administration, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota

Education

Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Political Science
MA, University of Minnesota, Public Affairs
MA, University of Minnesota, Political Science
BA, Washington University, Political Science

Courses Taught

Policy Development and Administration (PAD5035)
Theoretical Perspectives in Public Policy (PAD6025)
Capstone Project (PAD6908, Spring Semesters)

Awards & Honors

Fulbright Scholar, Taiwan, 2009.
Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration, 2006.
Awarded a grant to establish the Center for Excellence in Local Government Management Research, with Lance deHaven-Smith and Jeff Hendry, in partnership with the FL City County Management Association, 2007-2010 ($70,000).
“Assessing the Information Technology Needs of Nonprofit Agencies in Duval County and North Florida,” with Ralph Brower, funded by Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation, 2002-2004 ($87,500).
Awarded a State Partner Award by Volunteer Florida!!, for five years of service during 2000-2004, with Ralph Brower, March 2004.
“An Evaluation of Florida’s AmeriCorps Programs’ Capability for Strengthening Communities, and Developing a Model to Assess the Impact of National Service and Volunteerism on the Capacity of Communities to Respond to Their Own Needs,” with Ralph Brower, funded by the Florida Commission on Community Services, 2001 ($50,000).
“Performance Measurement in Florida State Government,” funded by Office of Planning and Budgeting, Florida Governor’s Office, 1994 ($9,000).
University Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) Award, Florida State University, 1994.
“Strategic Planning and Quality Management,” with Larry Gross, funded by Florida Department of Corrections, 1991-1992 ($90,000).
“Reorganizing to Implement Florida’s School Improvement and Accountability System,” with Larry Gross, funded by the Division of Public Schools, Florida Department of Education, 1991-1992 ($67,000).
CLEAR (National Clearinghouse on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation) 1987 National Regulatory Award.
“Analysis and Exchange of Information and Data on State Credentialing of Health Personnel, funded by Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1984- 1987 ($89,000).
“Licensure and Regulation of State Radiologic Personnel,” funded by Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1982-1986 ($45,000).
“Occupational Licensure Information System,” funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1981 ($39,000). Kentucky Colonel.

Selected Publications

Recent Articles:
“Limits on Innovativeness in Local Government: Examining Capacity, Complexity and Dynamism in Organizational Task Environments,” with Richard Walker and Claudia Avellaneda, Public Administration, September 2015: 663-683.
“Teaching Social Entrepreneurship in Public Affairs Programs: A Review of Social Entrepreneurship Courses in the Top 30 U.S. Public Administration and Affairs Programs” with Kimberly Wiley, Journal of Public Affairs Education, July 2015.
“Stakeholders in the Same Bed with Different Dreams: Semantic Network Analysis of Issue Interpretation in Risk Policy Related to Mad Cow Disease,” with Seunghoo Lim and Keon Lee, Journal of Public Administration and Theory, published online, January 2015.
“Successful Diffusion of a Failed Policy: The Case of ‘Pay for Performance’ in the U.S. Federal Government,” with Seejeen Park, Public Management Review, 2014. (Selected as Honorable Mention for Best Article of the Year in 2014 for Public Management Review.)
“Analyzing effective municipal solid waste recycling programs: The case of county-level MSW recycling performance in Florida, USA,” with Seejeen Park, Waste Management and Research, September 2013: 896-901.
“A Theoretical Framework on the Determinants of Strategic Cities: Empirical Results from Florida City Governments,” with Myungjung Kwon and Hee Soun Jang, American Review of Public Administration, July 2013 43:438-459.
“Understanding Diffusion Models of E-government and E-democracy: A Global Perspective,” with Chung-pin Lee and Kaiju Chang, Public Administration Review, April/May 2011: 444-54.
“Exploring the Diffusion of Innovation Types amongst High and Low Innovative Localities: A Test of the Berry and Berry Model,” with Richard Walker and Claudia Avellanda, Public Management Review, February 2011: 95-125.
“Understanding the Role of the Manager in Organizational Performance and Community Engagement,” Public Administration Review, December 2010: (Supplement 1): 153-156.
“Policy Innovation and Diffusion Theory and its Applicability to Korea,” with Daejin Kim, Korean Policy Studies Review, December 2010.
“The State of Public Strategic Management Research: A Selective Literature Review and Set of Future Directions,” with John Bryson and Kaifeng Yang, American Review of Public Administration, September 2010: 495-521.
“Understanding the Evolution of Economic Development Strategies in U. S. Cities,” with Myungjung Kwon and Richard Feiock, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, October 2009: 967-988.
“Framing and Modeling the Outcomes of State Abortion Funding Initiatives: Morality or Redistributive Policy or Both?,” with Jongho Roh, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, January 2008: 1-24.

Recent Books:
Practice-Based Performance Management: An International Handbook, edited by Patria de Lancer Julnes, Frances Berry, Maria Aristigueta, and Kaifeng Yang. Sage Publications, Oak Park, CA, 2007.