BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University has named Lisa Blomgren Amsler a distinguished professor, the highest academic title the university can bestow on a faculty member. President Michael A. McRobbie announced the Bicentennial Year honorees on Feb. 20.
Amsler, who joined the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1992, is the Keller-Runden Professor of Public Service, and a renowned scholar in the fields of collaborative governance, public engagement, dispute resolution, and labor law. She has authored more than 130 articles and book chapters throughout her distinguished career as a scholar and teacher. Her next book, Dispute System Design: Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict (with Janet K. Martinez and Stephanie E. Smith) will be published in May by Stanford University Press.
“Faculty honored with the title of distinguished professor – a title reserved for only the most highly acclaimed and accomplished IU faculty – truly are among the finest scholars and researchers in the world,” IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. “This prestigious appointment celebrates those who have earned national and international recognition and who have strengthened and transformed their fields of study through their research, scholarship, innovation and creative contributions to the world. They were chosen from the largest and best pool of candidates in IU’s history.”
Amsler’s 2005 article on new governance practice (co-authored with Tina Nabatchi and Rosemary O’Leary) was named one of the “75 Most Influential Articles” of the past 75 years by the Public Administration Review. Her lead article on workplace mediation (co-authored with Cynthia J. Hallberin, Denise A. Walker and Won-Tae Chung) and published in Harvard Negotiation Law Review, is on the Social Science Research Network all-time Top 10 list of most downloaded articles in conflict resolution.
“We are incredibly proud of Lisa on this tremendous recognition,” said O’Neill School Dean Siân Mooney. “Distinguished Professorships recognize the best of the best at our university, and based on Lisa’s extraordinary accomplishments over the past three decades, her recognition has been long deserved.”
Amsler has received national awards from four different professional associations. In 2014, the American Bar Association honored Amsler for Outstanding Scholarship foundational to the field of dispute resolution. She received the Rubin Theory-to-Practice award from the International Association for Conflict Management for research that affected practice and the Abner award from the Association for Conflict Resolution for excellence in research on labor and employment relations in the public sector. Professor Amsler’s book, The Promise and Performance of Environmental Conflict Resolution, co-edited with Rosemary O’Leary, earned the Best Book Award by The American Society for Public Administration.
Amsler will join other newly recognized distinguished professors for a symposium recognizing their research later in the year.
Her appointment brings to five the number of O’Neill School faculty who are currently distinguished professors, including David Audretsch, Kirsten Grønbjerg, Ronald Hites, and Jim Perry.
About the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
The O’Neill School is a world leader in public and environmental affairs and is the largest school of public administration and public policy in the United States. In the 2019 "Best Graduate Public Affairs Programs" by U.S. News & World Report, the O'Neill School ranks first in the country. Four of its specialty programs are ranked in the top-five listings, including nonprofit management, ranked first.