Larry Geri TESC MPA retrospective June 2024

Luck is the residue of design.

Branch Rickey

When I look back on my career after 30 years at Evergreen I often wonder whether Rickey’s famous quote reflects hard won wisdom, or wishful thinking. When is luck just a random outcome leaving you feeling like a winner (or loser!), and when is it the unintended byproduct of a plan? When I began the coursework for my doctorate in public administration in Fall 1988 at USC’s Washington, D.C. campus, I never conceived that I’d have a 30+ year career in academia. But here I am, and without that degree I never would have been hired at Evergreen. Rickey—best known for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers and breaking baseball’s color barrier—may have been right.

I’ve been thinking about this lately as more people question the overall value proposition of US higher education. There are reasons to be skeptical as tuition escalates, the job market remains strong and more high-quality training opportunities are available. But the data are clear: there are few better ways to improve your life chances and the opportunities available than investing in your future by completing a degree. And if you have a passion for public sector or nonprofit work, an MPA degree is a wonderful investment in your future.

The Evergreen MPA program’s philosophy has remained steadfast since I arrived at the college in the fall of 1994, though we have dramatically extended the program’s scope and footprint. We continue to create learning communities with each cohort that seek to explore and implement socially just and democratic public service. That commitment has never wavered. At the time, though, it was a high-quality but state-government-focused program, and one of my goals as a program faculty was to expand its scope to better cover the US federal government, public policy and provide an international perspective. Our program has expanded since then with the addition of our tribal governance concentration and a Tacoma cohort. Over that time, our curriculum has evolved. We have a more consistent emphasis on the study of tribal governance, nonprofit organizations, and each new faculty member brings expertise in exciting subjects that keep the program’s curriculum up to date.

In recent years my research has focused on energy policy, international administration, and the threat of authoritarian governance—a topic largely ignored by the field of public administration. How might public administrators serve as a unifying force in an increasingly partisan US polity and society? How should the field respond to the escalating threat of authoritarian rule? Trying to solve those puzzles was the focus of my recent sabbatical, and there are no easy answers.

It has been an honor to serve the college in a variety of roles including Director of the MPA program, academic dean, and faculty member working with twenty MPA cohorts with hundreds of students. Thanks to all of you, students and colleagues, for making it a memorable ride! And I have one more year to go and am looking forward to it.