Thomas Edison student Joel Heller and Dean Malcolm Oliver, PhD attended the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration's 2022 Public Service Awards Reception on May 18, 2022
In celebration of Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW), three accomplished New Jersey public servants and six outstanding public administration students were honored at the Annual Awards Ceremony of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (NJ ASPA) at an event on May 18, 2022, at Hynes Hall, Kean University in Union, New Jersey. This marked the first in-person NJ ASPA event since the start of the pandemic and was the first awards ceremony to be held since May 2019.
Established in 1985, PSRW is a nationwide public education campaign honoring the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county, local, and tribal government employees. Each year the president and Congress designate the first full week of May as PSRW and activities are held nationwide to honor public employees who put service above self. NJ ASPA Award winners were nominated by colleagues or professors familiar with their work, and the final selections were made by an NJ ASPA committee, which particularly sought to recognize public administration’s response to the pandemic.
The NJ ASPA Public Servant of the Year Award will be presented to Dean Kazinci, Township Manager, Township of Teaneck, NJ. Mr. Kazinci is being recognized for leading Teaneck’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the issuance of executive orders that placed safety parameters and restrictions on stores, parks, public locations, and municipal buildings before actions were taken by the county and state. In collaboration with Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, Mr. Kazinci transformed the Richard Rodda Community Center into the largest vaccination point of distribution in New Jersey, where over 170,000 New Jersey residents were vaccinated. Mr. Kazinci also took steps to enable the Teaneck restaurant community to flourish during the pandemic by closing roads and utilizing sidewalks for outside dining. He used techniques such as weekly recorded video messages and reverse 911 robocalls to residents to communicate and keep the community safe. Outside of the COVID-19 response, he has been a leader in developing new shared services between Teaneck and neighboring towns and taking advantage of state grants to support the activities. Mr. Kazinci is a certified human 2 resources professional, a Certified Public Manager®, and a member of the New Jersey Municipal Management Association.
The NJ ASPA Academic of the Year Award will be presented to Professor Susan Lederman. Dr. Lederman is Professor Emerita of Public Administration at Kean University. She served as Director of Kean's Master of Public Administration Program and has been on the faculty of the University since 1977. Dr. Lederman is also a past president of the League of Women Voters of the United States and served as the president of the New Jersey League of Women Voters. She has served on numerous New Jersey and national public policy commissions, including the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. She is coauthor of the book, Elections in America: Control and Influence in Democratic Politics. Susan Lederman holds an A.B. degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Rutgers University.
The New Jersey Public Service Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Ingrid W. Reed. Ingrid Reed is known for her work encouraging voter participation and confidence in elections and government through research and public education. From 1996 to 2010, she directed the New Jersey Project at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics. At Eagleton, she also chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Local Government Ethics (2009-2011). Ms. Reed previously was vice president for public affairs and corporate secretary at The Rockefeller University in New York City and assistant dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She chairs the Community Advisory Board of NJ PBS and serves on the NJ-AARP advocacy advisors committee. Ms. Reed was a founder and board chair of NJ Spotlight. She currently serves on the board of New Jersey Future, of which she is a founder and its first senior fellow. From its inception in 1987 until 2010, she chaired the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Public Administration.
The recipients of the Public Administration Students of the Year Awards are students who have excelled in public administration studies at universities in New Jersey. These students have emerged as effective leaders among their contemporaries.
The students are:
- Alice Colalillo, Kean University
- Joel Heller, Thomas Edison State University
- Jack A. Meyer, Farleigh Dickinson University
- Abie Murray Bangura, Rutgers University-Newark
- Joseph Pastino, Seton Hall University
- Sabrina Rodriguez Vicenty, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
The awards ceremony will be the concluding event of NJ ASPA president Dr. Joshua Osowski’s term. Incoming president Dr. Lisa Mahajan-Cusack will lead the chapter beginning on July 1, 2022.
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration is devoted to advancing excellence in public service, providing networking opportunities to public and non-profit professionals as well as developing innovative solutions to the challenges of governance. More information about ASPA can be found at: www.aspanet.org.
Toni M. Terry, BA