J. Edward Kellough

• PhD, Miami University, 1987
• MA, Miami University, 1982
• BS, Berea College, 1977

Dr. Kellough previously served as the Head of the Department of Public Administration and Policy and as MPA  and PhD Director. He specializes primarily in the field of public personnel management.  He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.  He has served as President of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), has been a member of the NASPAA Executive Council and served on the NASPAA Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation.  He has served also as Chair of the Section on Public Administration of the American Political Science Association and as Chair of the American Society for Public Administration, Section of Personnel and Labor Relations and the Section on Public Administration Education.  He is on the editorial boards of numerous academic journals.  Books by Dr. Kellough include Public Policy and Politics in Georgia: Lessons from Post-Soviet Transition, edited with Gene Brewer and Temirlan Moldogaziev; The New Public Personnel Administration, seventh edition, with Lloyd G. Nigro (Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014); Understanding Affirmative Action: Politics, Discrimination, and the Search for Justice (Georgetown University Press, 2007); and Civil Service Reform in the States: Personnel Policy and Politics at the Sub-National Level, edited with Lloyd G. Nigro (State University of New York Press, 2006).  His research has also appeared in Public Administration Review, The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Administration and Society, The Review of Public Personnel Administration, The American Review of Public Administration, Public Personnel Management, American Journal of Political Science, Social Science Quarterly, and other journals.  He has lectured or made presentations in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Republic of Georgia, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.

• Civil Service Reform
• Public Sector Incentive Systems and Productivity
• Job Evaluation Methods
• Compensation and Benefits
• Public Sector Labor Relations
• Employee Performance Appraisal
• Research methods

• Recipient of the John Gaus Award and Lectureship from the American Political Science Association for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration.
• Member of the National Academy of Public Administration
• Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect of the Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration, 2018 – 2019
• President of NASPAA (The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration), 2014 – 2015
• Keynote Speaker at: GIPA: Twenty-Five Years of Contributions to Georgian Public Service, December 19, 2020. Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, “Honoring the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of its Founding.”
• Keynote Speaker at: The 10^th International Silk Road Conference, May 22-23, 2015, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. “Government Performance: The Role of Effective Human Resources Management.”
• Department Head, University of Georgia, Department of Public Administration and Policy, 2008 – 2014
• Doctoral Program Director, University of Georgia, Department of Political Science and Department of Public Administration and Policy, 1999 – 2008 and 2015 – 2021
• MPA Program Director, University of Georgia, Department of Public Administration and Policy, 2002 – 2008 and 2016 – 2018
• Keynote Speaker at: The International Human Resources Conference, sponsored by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai and the UAE, Federal Authority for Government Human Resources Management, Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Dubai, UAE, January 19 – 20, 2011, “The Critical Importance of Research and Education for Effective Public Sector Human Resources Management.”
• Chair, Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration, 2020 – 2022
• Chair, Section on Public Administration of the American Political Science Association, 2007 – 2008
• Selected by the Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration for the “Best Public Sector Human Resources Book” award in 2007 for Understanding Affirmative Action: Politics, Discrimination, and the Search for Justice, (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2006).
• Member of the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA) – the NASPAA International Accreditation Body for Graduate Programs in Public Affairs and Administration), 2004 – 2007
• Selected by the Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration for “Outstanding Scholarship in Public Sector Human Resources,” 2006.
• Chair, Section on Public Administration Education of the American Society for Public Administration, 2003 – 2005
• Selected by Public Administration graduate students at the University of Georgia to receive an award as “Professor of the Year” for the academic years 1991-1992, 1994-1995, and 1995-1996.

• Civil Service Reform
• Public Sector Incentive Systems and Productivity
• Job Evaluation Methods
• Compensation and Benefits
• Public Sector Labor Relations
• Employee Performance Appraisal

Books:

The Fragility of Merit: Presidential Power and the Civil Service Under Trump, (Rutledge, 2025).

Public Policy and Politics in Georgia: Lessons from Post-Soviet Transition, (New York/Stuttgart: Columbia University Press/Ibidem Press, 2021), edited with Gene Brewer and Temirlan Moldogaziev.

The New Public Personnel Administration, 7th edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014) with Lloyd G. Nigro.

Understanding Affirmative Action: Politics, Discrimination, and the Search for Justice, (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2006).

Civil Service Reform in the States: Personnel Policy and Politics at the Sub-National Level, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006) edited with Lloyd G. Nigro.

Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and Numerical Goals and Timetables: An Impact Assessment, (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989).

Articles:

“In Search of Fundamental Fairness and Equal Protection: The Role of the U.S. Supreme Court in Shaping American Democracy,” forthcoming in the American Review of Public Administration, with Ellen Rubin, Keith Baker, and Youjong Song.

“The Fragility of Merit: Erosion of the Foundation of Public Service Under Trump,” forthcoming in Review of Public Personnel Administration.

“A Titan in Public Budgeting and Finance: Tribute to Thomas P. Lauth, April 27, 1938 – May 13, 2023,” forthcoming in Public Budgeting and Finance, with Katherine G. Willoughby and Yi Lu.

“Agency Variation in the Employment of Women in U.S. Federal STEM Jobs: The Impact of Female Supervisors,” forthcoming in Public Personnel Management, with Lawrence A. Brown II.

“The Importance of Merit Principles for Civil Service Systems: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Sector,” forthcoming in Review of Public Personnel Administration, with Gene Brewer and Hal G. Rainey.

“Contracting and the Bureaucratic Representation of Minorities and Women: Examining Evidence from U.S. Federal Agencies,” Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, (September 2020) pp. 447-467, with Lawrence A. Brown II.

“Human Resources and Public Administration,” PS: Political Science & Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1, (January 2020) pp. 173-178.

“Performance Appraisal Problems in the Public Sector: Examining Supervisors’ Perceptions,” Public Personnel Management, Vol. 48, No. 2 (2019) pp. 179-202, with Yu-Chun Lin.

“Representative Bureaucracy and Government Contracting: A Further Examination of Evidence from Federal Agencies,” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, forthcoming, with Benjamin M. Brunjes.

“Knowledge of Federal EEO Law Among County Administrators and Department Heads: Examining the Extent and Determinants of Understanding,” Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 37, No. 1 (March 2017) pp. 59-83, with Christine Rush.

“Administrative Values and Public Personnel Management: Reflections on Civil Service Reform in the United States,” Public Personnel Management, Vol. 45. No. 2 (2016) pp. 171-189, with Gene Brewer.

“Identifying Student Traits and Motives to Service-Learn: Public Service Orientation Among New College Freshmen,” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Vol. 19, No. 4 (2015) pp. 39-62, with Gene Brewer, Rob Christensen, and Justin Stritch.

“NASPAA in a Time of Transition,” Journal of Public Affairs Education, Vol. 21, No. 1, (Winter 2015), pp. 9-12.

“At-will Employment in the States: Examining the Perceptions of Agency Personnel Directors,” Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 34, No. 3 (September 2014) pp. 218-236, with Jungin Kim.

Book Chapters:

“Merit System Integrity and Public Service Motivation in the U.S. Federal Civil Service: Evidence on the Importance of Merit Principles,” In Randall S. Davis and Edmund C. Stazyk, eds., Handbook of Research on Motivation in Public Administration, (Cheltenham and Camberley, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, Forthcoming), with Gene Brewer and Hal G. Rainey.

“Lessons for Policy, Administration, and Politics from Georgia,” In Temirlan Moldogaziev, Gene Brewer, and J. Edward Kellough, eds., Public Policy and Politics in Georgia: Lessons from Post-Soviet Transition, (New York/Stuttgart: Columbia University Press/Ibidem Press, 2021), pp. 3-11, with Temirlan Moldogaziev and Gene Brewer.

“Social Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Affirmative Action in the Public Sector: Lessons from Eight Decades of Struggle,” In Edmund C. Stazyk and H. George Frederickson, eds., The Handbook of American Public Administration, (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar), pp. 259-271.

“Public Personnel Management: A Cornerstone of Effective Government,” In Norma M. Riccucci, ed., Public Personnel Management: Current Concerns, Future Challenges, sixth edition, (New York: Routledge, 2018), pp. 1-11.

“Combating Discrimination and Its Legacy:  Affirmative Action and Diversity in the Public Sector” In Steven W. Hays, Richard C. Kearney, and Jerrell D. Coggburn, eds., Public Human Resource Management: Problems and Prospects, sixth edition, (New York: Longman, 2016), pp. 240-251.

“Employee Turnover in Public Agencies: Examining the Extent and Correlates,” In Ron Burke, Andrew Noblet, and Cary Cooper, eds. Human Resources Management in the Public Sector: Achieving High Quality Service and Effectiveness, (Northampton, MA: Edward Elger Publishers, 2013), pp. 177-195, with Mark Bradbury and Jessica E. Sowa.

“Managing Human Resources to Improve Organizational Productivity: The Role of Performance Evaluation,” In Norma M. Riccucci, ed., Public Personnel Management: Current Concerns, Future Challenges, fifth edition, (New York: Longman, 2012), pp. 173-185.