VCU faculty member receives Fulbright Specialist Program award

Susan Gooden, Ph.D., professor of public policy and administration in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and executive director of The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute, has received a Fulbright Specialist Award with Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates for the summer of 2014.

Gooden will work with faculty and senior administrators in the College of Sustainability Sciences and Humanities at Zayed University.

“The award allows me to gain an in-depth understanding of their public administration program and to work with them on global accreditation standards,” Gooden said. “In 2013, the Network of Associated Schools of Public Policy Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) began offering accreditation of public administration programs based outside of the United States. This is the first public administration program in the United Arab Emirates, and one of few internationally, to work toward this distinction. This presents an incredible opportunity within the profession.”

The Fulbright Specialist Program promotes linkages between U.S. scholars and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions in over 140 countries worldwide.

Niraj Verma, Ph.D., dean of the Wilder School, was one of Gooden’s nominators for the award and described her as outstanding faculty member who will be an asset to Zayed University.

“Dr. Gooden is unusual in the way she straddles fields and bridges the gap between academia and practice. Her writing on social equity, for instance, displays passion and commitment while rigorously addressing scholarly issues,” Verma wrote in his nomination of Gooden.

Gooden teaches courses in public policy and administration, social equity and public policy analysis, research methods and social welfare policy. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. In addition to the National Academy of Sciences, which includes the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, NAPA is the only other congressionally chartered National Academy. She was recently elected vice president of the American Society for Public Administration, the largest and most prominent professional association for public administration.

The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.