Maria Aristigueta appointed director of SUAPP

Maria P. Aristigueta, professor of public administration and policy scientist in the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration, has been appointed director of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy (SUAPP).

Aristigueta, whose teaching and research interests are primarily in the areas of performance management and organizational behavior, also works through IPA to assist state and local agencies and nonprofits. She currently is working with a team from CCRS on a project on the relationship between nonprofit and governmental entities in the provision of human services where she is personally focusing on the use of performance contracts.

Aristigueta is the author of Managing for Results in State Government, published by Quorum Books, and coauthor of Organizational Behavior in the Public and Non-Profit Sectors, published by Sage. Her latest book is Civil Society in Cuba, and she is co-editor of Practice-Based Performance Management: An International Handbook, which will be published this year. She also has written articles for scholarly journals and book chapters on topics such as the use of social indicators, performance measurement, outcomes for student learning and the use of strategic planning for economic development. She recently hosted the Third Transatlantic Dialogue with European colleagues at UD.

Before she joined UD in 1997, Aristigueta was on the faculty at the University of Central Florida and held administrative and consulting positions in federal, state and local governments, primarily in the areas of program evaluation, performance measurement and strategic planning.

Aristigueta received her bachelor's degree in social work and master's degree in public administration from the University of South Florida in 1977 and 1980, respectively. She earned a doctorate in public administration at the University of Southern California in 1997.

Media contact: Martin Mbugua, (302) 831-8749, [mbugua@udel.edu]
July 24, 2007