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The Public Management Center was established in Topeka in 1974 to make KU’s master’s degree in public administration more readily available to the people and workforce of Topeka.
From its inception, the PMC has been a shaping force in Topeka. To date, nearly 370 scholars have earned their MPA degrees through the center. Those scholars include Governor Kathleen Sebelius; Brian Moline, chair of the Kansas Corporation Commission; Michael Johnston, president/CEO of the Kansas Turnpike Authority; and Carla Stovall, former Kansas attorney general. But they are just a few of the accomplished PMC graduates who fill the ranks of elected and appointed officials and non-governmental leadership roles in Topeka and beyond. The current cohort of MPA students continues the tradition of being highly motivated, largely mid-career professionals who bring remarkable personal drive and practical experience to PMC classrooms.
The Public Management Center also has graduated nearly 800 certified public managers. These students — and the agencies that sponsor them — dedicate three days each month to a curriculum that emphasizes personal growth and professional development. It’s a rigorous, challenging program, and agencies report that their staffs are lining up to get in, waiting for available funding and open slots. The center recently expanded the Certified Public Managers program with new relationships at the local and federal levels.
The center’s newest initiative, the Emerging Leaders Academy, provides a unique development opportunity for the most promising individuals entering public service today. This initiative will offer promising young public servants a rigorous curriculum that combines study of government, leadership and ethics with opportunities for self-discovery, networking, and mentorship.
PMC programs enjoy a well-deserved reputation for quality, and its staff exemplifies professionalism and graciousness. They inspire excellent performance in the classroom and enduring friendship without.
To ensure that the PMC will remain an important intellectual and educational presence for another 30 years, we need only to build on its foundations: integrate practical with the theoretical; never, ever allow program quality to falter; learn at least as much from the students as they learn from us; and know that public service still lies at the heart of a health democracy.
We hope that we can be of service to you.
Sincerely,
Charles Jones, director
The Public Management Center is located on 10th Street, about one quarter mile west of the Statehouse and directly across the street from Topeka High School.
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