{"id":143884,"date":"2024-11-14T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=143884"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:34:09","slug":"ucf-emergency-management-professor-inducted-as-national-academy-of-public-administration-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-emergency-management-professor-inducted-as-national-academy-of-public-administration-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Emergency Management Professor Inducted as National Academy of Public Administration Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"
Each year, the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) inducts a new cohort of academic and industry professionals in the public administration field to serve as academy fellows. The 2024 cohort comprises 42 inductees \u2014 and Claire Connolly Knox<\/a>, professor of emergency and crisis management, is one of them.<\/p>\n NAPA fellows are tapped to provide insight and experience to address current and emerging issues in government, from overseeing academy projects and lending expertise to providing guidance and contribution to discourse on government.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 2024 class of academy fellows reflects a wide range of professional experience, including dedicated civil servants and accomplished academics,\u201d says Terry Gerton, president and CEO of NAPA. \u201cThese 42 leaders will be an enormous asset to the academy in the years ahead, and we look forward to working with all of them to help create a bright future for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellows are selected based on a rigorous review of an individual\u2019s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. The Fellows Nominating Committee makes its recommendations to nearly 1,000 existing fellows, who then vote on which candidates to induct. Those currently serving in the academy include former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators, prominent scholars, executives, nonprofit leaders and more. A new cohort of academy fellows is inducted annually during NAPA\u2019s fall meeting.<\/p>\n Knox is one of only 24 NAPA fellows in Florida \u2014 a distinction she says she finds both rewarding and humbling. As a first-generation college student hailing from coastal Louisiana, Knox says she doesn\u2019t take any of her educational or research-based accomplishments for granted. Knox, who also serves as the academic program coordinator for UCF\u2019s emergency and crisis management master\u2019s program<\/a>, is the fifth professor in the School of Public Administration<\/a> to be named a NAPA fellow. Her induction to the academy follows those of Kuotsai \u201cTom\u201d Liou<\/a> in 2015, Jeremy Hall<\/a>\u00a0in 2020, Pegasus Professor\u00a0Naim Kapucu<\/a>\u00a0in 2021 and Abdul-Akeem Sadiq<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have this amazing honor is extremely humbling, and I could not have done this without the support of friends, family, mentors and colleagues who have guided me on the path that got me to where I am now,\u201d she says. \u201cSo much of my research<\/a> and mentorship approach has been focused on lifting up the next generation. … This academy allows us the opportunity to work with the elite of public administration \u2014 from all levels of government and academia \u2014 to tackle wicked problems by pushing for good governance through the study and practice of public administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Knox says that one of the greatest responsibilities that comes with being a fellow is providing recommendations for consideration by federal government.<\/p>\n