On Saturday May 18, 2024, CENTEX ASPA conducted its annual Awards Luncheon in honor of Public Service Recognition Week. The luncheon was held at Palmer’s Restaurant in San Marcos.
The featured speaker at the Awards Luncheon was Dr. Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs & Professor of Public Affairs and History. The title of his presentation was “What Does Public Service Mean in 2024?”
At the Luncheon, recognition and awards were presented to faculty and students from Texas State University’s Master of Public Administration Program, Texas A&M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service, and the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. Amy Ledbetter Parham, Chief Executive Officer of Texas Habitat for Humanity, received the 2024 William P. Hobby Distinguished Service Award which was created and named to honor former Texas Lt. Governor, who had dedicated his career to public service.
In addition, students from Texas State’s MPA Program were recognized for their scholarly achievements and were inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha, the Global Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. Crossville Wiliams won an award for his master’s thesis entitled An Evaluative Study of a Dropout Prevention Program on African American Male Students in Central Texas High Schools. Naisargi Jaiswal was recognized for her Applied research project on Administrative Capacity in Public Administration: Insights from a Systematic Review of Scholarship. Scholarships were also resented to a number of Texas State MPA students:
Mst Thahsina Aktar Asha (Francis Rich & William P. Hobby Scholarships)
Kamryn Hannigan (Howard Balanoff Scholarship)
Mostafa Jalal (Francis Rich & William P Hobby Scholarships)
Brianna Kearns (Francis Rich & Barney Knight Scholarships)
Kaden Tucker (Barney Knight Scholarship)
Daphne Williams (Barney Knight Scholarship)
Faculty that attended included Dean Mary Brennan, Dr. Kenneth Grasso, Dr. Nandhini Rangarajan, Dr. Miha Vindis, Dr. Sherri Mora and Dr. Howard Balanoff. Ms. Denise Bjerke, the Department of Political Science’s office manager received a special award in recognition of her outstanding work and its contribution to the MPA Program’s success.
Dr. Balanoff mentioned that “it was a wonderful way to honor outstanding public servants, and faculty, staff and students from Texas State University’s Political Science Department, UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service.” The CENTEX ASPA Public Service Recognition Week Awards Luncheon was sponsored by Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service. The Luncheon program began with a meet and greet reception, which was followed by a plated lunch for the approximately 70 attendees. The awards program was followed by a brief meeting of CENTEX ASPA’s Officers and Governing Board Members to discuss selection of program events and activities for the future.
For additional information about CENTEX ASPA’s activities and events please contact Fred Bell, CENTEX ASPA President at fred_bell@sbcglobal.net. For additional information about the activities and programs of the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service contact Dr. Howard Balanoff at hb02@txstate.edu.
