Director named for Ohio State’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs

Caitlin Essig
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 19:17:58 +0000
Campus, charles wise, john glenn school, public affairs, trevor brown

Trevor Brown is set to become director of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs March 1.
Credit: Courtesy of OSU

Ohio State’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs is set to segue its interim director into a more permanent position March 1.

Trevor Brown, who has served as interim director of the school since July 1 after founding director Charles Wise left the position June 20, has been appointed to the position, pending approval from the Board of Trustees, according to a Thursday OSU news release.

Brown said he is “both thrilled and honored to serve both the school and the university.”

“We’ve had a very good year and I think a lot of that has to do with the enthusiasm and commitment of the faculty and staff here and the high quality of the students we have,” Brown said Friday. “We’ve seen no drop off in everyone’s excitement about public service and we are eager to move forward.”

Brown is set to earn $208,250 annually as director, according to OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray.

He earned nearly $100,300 in 2013, according to the Columbus Business First DataCenter.

Even with the salary increase, Brown called his new position “just a title change.”

“There will be some small changes but the major thing is the certainty of moving forward along the same direction we’ve been going so far,” he said. “I served as associate director some years before serving as interim and the school has flourished in that time and there’s no reason to change our course, but rather renew our commitment to that course.”

Brown came to OSU in 2001 as an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy and Management, which merged with the Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy in 2006. He has since been promoted to an associate professor and then associate director of academic affairs and research of the Glenn School, along with being named interim director of the school last year.

OSU Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Steinmetz said Brown’s leadership will continue to benefit the school.

“Trevor has served the school and the university very well during the transition and I am confident that the Glenn School will continue making great strides under his leadership,” Steinmetz said in a released statement Thursday. “I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new, permanent role.”

In addition to his positions at the Glenn School, Brown serves as an associate project executive for the Parliamentary Development Project, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and assists the Ukrainian parliament. He also previously served as the U.S. project manager for the PDP.

Brown conducts research in public management and organizational theory, contracting and contract management and strategic management and performance measurement, according to the release. He also co-authored a book, “Complex Contracting: Government Contracting in the Wake of the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program,” that was published in 2013.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in public policy from Stanford University and completed his doctorate in public policy and political science from Indiana University.

Wise, Brown’s predecessor, currently serves as a professor at the Glenn School.