He is the author or co-author of more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles and invited book chapters; the co-author of Compromised Compliance: Implementation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (1982) and The Politics of State and City Administration (1986); the co-editor of Governors, Legislatures, and Budgets: Diversity Across the American States (1991) and Budgeting in the States: Institutions, Processes and Politics (2006); and the author of Public Budgeting in Georgia: Institutions, Process, Politics and Policy (2021). He received the Aaron B. Wildavsky Award for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement in Public Budgeting, presented in 1998 by the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management. He served on the editorial boards of several professional journals. He taught courses, delivered lectures, and presented papers in China, Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and was President of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), 2000-2001. He was a member of the NASPAA Executive Council (1994-1997), the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) National Council (1986-1989) and the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM) Executive Committee (1983-1986). He was President of the Georgia Political Science Association (1991-92) and a member of the Southern Political Science Association Executive Council (1991-94). He served on the Board of Directors of Public Financial Publications, Inc. (2000-2021) and as Board president (2010-2020).
During his years as an active faculty member he directed 30 Ph.D. dissertations. In 2010, he delivered the 100th Anniversary Graduate Commencement Address at the University of Georgia. In 2020, he was the recipient of the University of Georgia President’s Medal. In 2022, he received the Marc Holzer Excellence in Mentoring Award, presented by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Chinese Public Administration.
He earned the B.A. in Government from the University of Notre Dame and the Ph.D. in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
