Claire L. Felbinger passed away suddenly at her home on Wednesday, May 28, due to a complication from multiple sclerosis (MS). At the time of her death, she had been employed at the Japan International Transport Institute.
Claire received her Ph.D. in public administration in 1986 from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Claire taught public administration and program evaluation. She had a distinguished record of research in academia and in think tanks. She was among the first to bring the field of public administration and management to urban infrastructure.
She taught at Northern Illinois University, 1985–1988; she was assistant and associate professor at Cleveland State University, 1988–1998; and associate professor and chair, the department of public administration and policy at American University, 1998–2002. At Cleveland State, Claire was interim director of The Urban Center's Public Works Management Program, which provided management and technical assistance to regional local governments, 1988–1990. She was senior program officer, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, 2002–2005, and senior research associate, Japan International Transport Institute, 2006 until her death.
Her scholarly record includes six co-authored books, 20 book chapters, and 13 articles in refereed journals. She was editor of Public Works Management and Policy, Sage Publications, 1995–2006. Among her recent publications are Outstanding Women in Public Administration, edited with Wendy Haynes (M.E. Sharpe, 2004); Public Program Evaluation: A Statistical Guide, with Laura Langbein (M.E. Sharpe, 2006); and Profiles of Outstanding Women in Public Administration, edited with Wendy Haynes (APSA, 2006). She co-organized two published symposia: “Emerging Concepts in Public Administration,” with Marc Holzer, and “Public Works Management in Transformation: Challenges to the State and Public Management,” also with Marc Holzer. With spouse Richard D. Bingham, she was co-author of both editions of Evaluation in Practice: A Methodological Approach (Chatham House, 2002).
We in the department of public administration and policy at American University hired Claire Felbinger as our department chair in 1998. As it turned out, we not only got a chair, a teacher, and a scholar; we also got a public-spirited manager. At the time Claire was hired, none of us wanted to direct the self-study process for our upcoming NASPAA accreditation review, but Claire was willing. Three of our degree programs were eligible for accreditation—a traditional and executive MPA and an MPP. Claire thought she could write one report for all three degree programs, but the reviewing board ruled that each degree needed a separate report. By the end of Claire's second year as chair, the faculty had adopted all curricular changes, including the structure of concentrations and the initiation of two new concentrations (and the new courses to support those concentrations). Her leadership skills were evident as she guided the writing of the NASPAA self-study for reaccreditation of the traditional and executive MPA and programs as well as the initial accreditation of the MPP program during her second year.
Claire wound up writing three very large self-study reports. In 2001, we became the first department in the nation to have three NASPAA-accredited degree programs.
In 2004, Claire was diagnosed with MS. She faced the disease with grace and aplomb. We remember Claire as a teacher and scholar of public administration who herself was a skilled administrator, demonstrating leadership along with political wisdom, a large dose of humor, and a smile for everyone, eliciting trust from all. She was also an extraordinary mentor to her colleagues, students, and friends.
Claire is survived by her husband Richard Bingham, her mother, her brother, two stepchildren, and 26 step grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (900 S. Broadway, 2nd floor, Denver, CO 80209) in Claire's name.
