Gordon P. Whitaker retired as Professor of Public Administration and Government at the UNC School of Government in 2012. He was a faculty member at UNC since 1973 and served as director the Master of Public Administration program from 1980-1993. His research on local government and citizen organizations was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and other federal, state, and foundation grants. He is the author of many books and articles. Whitaker was instrumental in the creation and development of the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium. He has been honored for his contributions and achievements by the International City and County Management Association, the Carolina Center for Public Service, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Society, and numerous other organizations, including the UNC MPA program’s Gordon Whitaker Scholarship. He earned a PhD in Political Science from Indiana University in 1972.

Ricardo S. Morse is Associate Professor at the UNC School of Government, where he has been on the faculty since 2006. His research, teaching, and consulting focus on public leadership, collaborative governance, and civic engagement. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, lead editor of two books, Transforming Public Leadership for the 21st Century (Routledge, 2007), and Innovations in Public Leadership Development (Routledge, 2008), and lead author of The Citizens Academies Handbook (UNC School of Government, 2017). He teaches in a variety of the School’s continuing education programs for local government officials as well as a leadership course in the School’s MPA program. Dr. Morse earned BA and MA degrees in public policy from Brigham Young University and a PhD in public administration from Virginia Tech.