James Perry

James Perry is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Public and Environmental Affairs at the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington, where he joined the faculty in 1985. He earned a Ph.D. in 1974 and an M.P.A. in 1972 from Syracuse University, as well as a B.A. in 1970 from the University of Chicago. Perry is an internationally recognized leader in public administration and the study of public management. His research specializations encompass public management, public organizational behavior, government and civil service reform, national and community service, public service motivation, performance-related pay, civil society, civic engagement, and volunteering. Over his career, he has authored or edited 10 books and more than 175 articles and book chapters. Key publications include Managing Organizations to Sustain Passion for Public Service (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Public Service and Good Governance for the Twenty-first Century (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020), and Handbook of Public Administration, Third Edition (co-edited with Robert Christensen, Jossey-Bass, 2015). Influential articles feature "The motivational bases of public service" (with L. Wise, Public Administration Review, 1990), which pioneered research on public service motivation, "Measuring public service motivation: An assessment of construct reliability and validity" (Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1996), and "Revisiting the motivational bases of public service: Twenty years of research and an agenda for the future" (with A. Hondeghem and L. R. Wise, Public Administration Review, 2010).

Perry's scholarly impact is evidenced by numerous honors, including the John Gaus Award from the American Political Science Association (2017) for lifetime exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration, the Routledge Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Public Management Research from the International Research Society for Public Management (2018), the Dwight Waldo Award from the American Society for Public Administration (2008), the H. George Frederickson Award from the Public Management Research Association (2015), and the Keith Provan Award from the Academy of Management Public and Nonprofit Division (2021). A three-time Fulbright Scholar and Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, he has also received the Charles H. Levine Memorial Award (1991) and the Paul P. Van Riper Award (2006). Perry has served as editor-in-chief of Public Administration Review and Journal of Public Affairs Education, and co-editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration. He holds affiliate faculty status in philanthropic studies and has had appointments at Yonsei University, University of California, Irvine, the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, including as Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of Hong Kong (2014-2016).

Professional Email: perry@iu.edu