2002 Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service Fellow

Dan Durning

Dr. Dan Durning received a Walter Barnard Hill Award in 2000 for distinguished achievement in public service and outreach. Since then, Durning has continued to make extraordinary contributions to public service and outreach through his leadership of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s International Governance program and other initiatives. He has represented UGA in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Croatia, the Republic of Georgia, China, Austria, and the Netherlands. In doing so, he has distinguished himself and brought great credit to the University of Georgia.

For over a year, Durning has served as director of the International Center for Democratic Governance (ICDG). He has developed new programs that have provided dozens of faculty members and government leaders in Georgia with the opportunity to train and learn abroad. He recently helped UGA secure a major grant from the Bureau Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, for a three-year partnership program between UGA and the Orenburg Institute of the Moscow State Law Academy. The project, which will last until August 2003, will improve and expand the Orenburg Institute’s public administration degree program and help it to establish a public administration outreach program. Durning also secured funding from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for faculty exchanges with the Shanghai Administration Institute and Fudan University.

In addition to developing and managing these two new grant programs during the past two years, Durning has continued his role as principal investigator for projects in the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, and China. In 1994, he secured funding to assist Uzhgorod State University in Ukraine with establishing a public administration outreach program. As the first major international activity in the history of the Vinson Institute, the initiative allowed Uzhgorod State University to set up and Institute for Public Administration and Regional Development (IPARD). IPARD has conducted over seventy-two training programs for government officials, serving some 2,800 attendees who have returned to their agencies with new skills and knowledge.

Durning also managed a community partners program that linked Athens-Clarke County with the city of Kamianets-Podilsky in Ukraine. The program, which was extended for eighteen months because of its success, has allowed for three faculty members and six managers from the Athens-Clarke County government to train in Ukraine and for UGA to host four managers from Kamianets-Podilsky. Durning managed the 2001 training programs in Beijing and Xian, China, which have enabled more than a dozen faculty members and others to provide training in China as part of their professional development. He has exhibited leadership in developing further opportunities for UGA faculty to work cooperatively abroad. As a result of his efforts, new cooperative agreements have been or will be signed between UGA and six institutions of higher education in China and Africa.

Another important aspect of Durning’s leadership has been to build relationships within UGA and Georgia that will strengthen international programs and yield educational benefits. He instituted a lecture series that offers UGA students and faculty the opportunity to learn more about government, management, and economic development in developing countries. He has also involved the Vinson Institute’s traditional client in its international activities.

During is nationally recognized as an expert in the area of annexation and consolidation. He has written eleven major reports on the matter, all of which have required extensive data analysis that was conducted based on a model he developed. His methodology to conduct these city/county consolidation studies has been adopted nationally. During has also continued to be active in public policy research and service initiatives. He teaches public policy and has served on four public administration doctoral committees for the associate provost for international programs and the director of the office of international development. He has served as a member of the strategic planning committee at the Vinson Institute. He is also a member of the review panel for a Joint NASPAA-NISPAcee (Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe) public administration grant program.