About the Author

Gordon P. Whitaker is Professor of Public Administration and Government in the School of Government of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include citizen participation, local government organization and management, alternative public service delivery arrangements (including nonprofit agencies), civic education, and professional education for public service. In 1997 he helped found the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, and he serves as its faculty adviser.

Professor Whitaker's research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission, and the Jesse Ball du Pont Fund. In 1997 he received the International City/County Management Association's Award for Local Government Education for his work in Civic Education.

Professor Whitaker has taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 1973. He served from 1980 to 1993 as director of the UNC Master of Public Administration Program. His teaching includes courses in performance evaluation, organization theory, public management and leadership, and state and local government. Before coming to UNC, he was on the faculty of Brooklyn College/City University of New York. Professor Whitaker received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University in 1972.