Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of UT Dallas faculty and students. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communication manager.

 

Battaglio Named New Co-Editor of Journal

Dr. Paul Battaglio

Dr. Paul Battaglio

The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) has named Dr. Paul Battaglio, associate professor of public and nonprofit management in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, as one of the two new editors-in-chief of the journal Public Administration Review (PAR).

Battaglio and Dr. Jeremy Hall of the University of Central Florida will take on the role in 2018.

“The selection of Paul Battaglio and Jeremy Hall is the culmination of a rigorous, competitive process that reflects the stature and reputation of ASPA’s flagship journal,” ASPA president Susan Gooden said. “It also reflects the expertise, creativity and enthusiasm that Paul and Jeremy will bring to the position — skills that will enable them to build on the current editorial team’s successes and take PAR to even greater heights.”

Published bimonthly by Wiley, PAR has more than 12,000 institutional and individual subscribers.

“We are profoundly grateful to ASPA’s leadership for selecting our proposal,” Battaglio and Hall said in a prepared statement. “The PAR editor-in-chief role brings with it great opportunity and responsibility. We will work tirelessly to build on the journal’s accomplishments in ways that will serve the field of public administration — both those who study and practice it — exceedingly well.”

Battaglio serves as editor-in-chief of the Review of Public Personnel Administration. He will step down from that role at the end of the year.

Dean Kratz Receives Confucius Institute Award

Dr. Dennis Kratz

Dr. Dennis Kratz

Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professor of Humanities, was awarded the Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award at a ceremony held in China during the 11th Confucius Institute Conference. The award was presented by China’s vice premier, Liu Yandong, on behalf of the Confucius Institute headquarters.

The award, given to 30 individuals selected from over 500 Confucius institutes worldwide, recognizes efforts to develop cultural ties with China. The Confucius Institute at UT Dallas has nominated Kratz twice.

“This is a well-deserved honor for Dr. Kratz, who has nurtured the Confucius Institute into an institution which has been recognized with a number of awards, including the Award for the Confucius Institute of the Year in 2014,” said Dr. Ming Dong Gu, director of UT Dallas’ institute.

Under Kratz’s leadership, the school established the Confucius Institute at UT Dallas in 2007. Since then, the program has expanded, offering courses on Chinese language and culture, Chinese teacher-training workshops and public lectures, and serving as a testing site for Chinese proficiency exams and a center for China studies in North Texas.

“Although presented to me, this award truly honors the dedicated service of professor Gu and associate director Sharon Yang,” Kratz said. “They are responsible for the continuing success and the bright future of our Confucius Institute.”