John Duffy receives honorary doctorate from National University of Mongolia

The School of International Relations and Public Administration (SIRPA) at the National University of Mongolia (NUM) conveyed an honorary doctorate to Professor John Duffy, Ph.D., of the University of Alaska Anchorage, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. John Duffy is an adjunct professor with the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP), teaching courses for the Department of Public Administration.

John holds a doctorate degree in natural resources and sustainability from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, master's degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Prior to joining CBPP, John served as borough manager for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Some of his major accomplishments in local government include successfully managing large-scale transportation, corrections, and school construction projects.

Since 2017, John has worked in the NUM Public Administration Program as a guest professor. During that time, John has implemented many activities in different areas, including:

• Establishing, strengthening and expanding the cooperation between the public administration departments at UAA and NUM;
• Participating as a guest speaker in 2017 and 2018 at the international NUM Leadership Conference;
• Presenting a keynote speech at the 13th series of "Quality Growth" of UB-IMPULSE, a public lecture jointly organized by the Integrated Mineral Resources Initiative project of the German Society for International Cooperation and SIRPA;
• Serving as a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Public Administration and Consulting, a joint journal of NUM and Hanson University of South Korea;
• Providing training sessions and seminars for the Public Administration Department faculty members on making research meaningful and improving teaching skills;
• Teaching courses for graduate-level students in public administration programs at SIRPA;
• Providing training seminars for civil servants in the different provinces of Mongolia;
• Donating professional books and journals to the Public Administration Department;
• Recruiting Public Administration Department members to the American Society for Public Administration and paying their annual membership fees from his personal funds;
• Establishing joint cooperation and collaboration between UAA's student government association and SIRPA's "Mini Parliament" student club;

President Tumurbaatar Yadmaa of the National University of Mongolia presided over the ceremony and bestowed the honorary doctorate to John. Other participants from NUM included vice presidents; deans of the branch schools; professors, lecturers, and students. The Honorable Michael S. Klecheski, U.S Ambassador to Mongolia, and other U.S. Embassy representatives also attended the ceremony. Members from the Open Society Forum-Mongolia who have worked with John on civil society and capacity building matters attended as well.

For additional photos from the ceremony, please visit the National University of Mongolia website.

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