Williams Named President of NASPAA

The director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) School of Public Administration is now head of the world’s largest accrediting body for public affairs programs.

Ethel Williams, Ph.D., was named president at the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration’s (NASPAA) during its annual October conference and will serve in the position for one year. As president, Williams will oversee governance from NASPAA, which handles academic accreditation standards and issuances for public affairs programs across the globe.

Currently, NASPAA has provided accreditation for 285 programs across 13 countries, including UNO.

“Ethel has been a leader in advancing excellence in public affairs education,” said NASPAA Executive Director Laurel McFarland. “She has been a tireless advocate for social equity in our member schools. In addition to her decade of extraordinary service to NASPAA, Ethel's scholarship and teaching in human resource management, and her leadership at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, make us honored to have her serve as our president."

After her one-year term as president, Williams will continue to serve for an additional two years on the NASPAA executive council as a member.

“I am excited and humbled to be elected president of NASPAA. The organization promotes excellence in education and training for public service in the United States and globally,” said Williams. “To be in a position of policy making and governance and make an impact on the organization and its member schools is a tremendous opportunity.”

Williams has been at UNO since 1989 when she joined the School of Public Administration as a professor. She took the position of director earlier this year after former director John Bartle took a position as Dean of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service.

For additional information, please contact Charley Reed, UNO media relations coordinator, at 402.554.2129 or by email atunonews@unomaha.edu.

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The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska's metropolitan university. The core values of the institution place students at the center of all that the university does; call for the campus to strive for academic excellence; and promote community engagement that transforms and improves urban, regional, national and global life. UNO, inaugurated in 1968, emerged from the Municipal University of Omaha, established in 1931, which grew out of the University of Omaha founded in 1908.