CHRONOLOGICAL OVERVIEW – MILESTONES

1974

·        School of Public Affairs designated to offer five undergraduate majors and two graduate degrees (September 1974)

·        Walter J. McCoy, Ph.D.; is named Resident Founding Dean and would serve in that capacity through 1980.

·        Undergraduate and graduate degrees offered in Public Administration, City Planning, Administration of Justice, Health Administration, Public Service, Housing Management and Political Science

·        The School of Public Affairs is designated to have the only Masters of City Planning degree program.

1975

·        TSU Given $180,659 Grant for Housing Studies from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (June 1975)

·        The Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Chair of Public Affairs is officially established in the School of Public Affairs, the first academic chair in the history of Texas Southern University.

·        The Ford Foundation approves a grant of $100,000 for Texas Southern University to develop a Masters of Public Administration degree program.

1976

·        United Nations Representatives on Housing, Building and Planning present seminars and lectures as Bunche Chair scholars.

·        The School of Public Affairs receives grants from the U. S. Office of Education.

·        The Carnegie Corporation of New York awards Texas Southern University a $250,000 grant to support the Houston Urban Fellows and Intern Program in conjunction with the City of Houston.

·        A dual degree program is established to enable students to acquire a Juris Doctorate and Masters in Public Administration or City Planning.

·        Herbert A. Simon, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate in Economics (1978) - delivers the first Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “Bringing Science and Technology to Bear on Public Policy Decisions.”

·        Dwight B. Waldo, Ph.D., noted American political scientist and a defining figure in modern public administration, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “Public Administration in the Context of Change: Problems and Prospects.”

·        Donald C. Stone, Ph.D., noted American educator in public administration and a planner within the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “The Cross-Eyed Route to Intergovernmental Anarchy.”

·        Lerone Bennett, Jr., prolific writer and social historian, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “The Political Economy of Liberation.”

1978

·        Grants received from the Coordinating Board to initiate Professional Development Seminars in Gerontology.

·        Dean McCoy elected to the Executive Council of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration.

1979

·        Alan K. Campbell, Ph.D., a noted university administrator and Chairman of the U.S. Civil Service Commission and director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the Carter  administration, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, 

         “Federal Employment Practices and Equal Opportunity: New     

           Initiatives.”

·        Adam W. Herbert, Ph.D., a White House fellow and Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “Blacks, Public Policy and Political Participation.”

·        Leonard J. Castillo, former Commissioner Immigration and Naturalization Services, delivers a Bunche Chair lecture and paper entitled, “Human Rights as a Factor in United States Immigration Policy.”

·        Andrew F. Brimmer, Ph.D., the first African American to be named  a Governor of the Federal Reserve System, delivers a speech and paper entitled, Economic Growth and Structural Unemployment.” 

1980

·        Dr. Tandy Tollerson is appointed Acting Dean of the School of Public Affairs

1981

·        Dr. Charles Anderson is appointed Dean of the School of Public Affairs

1984

·        Under reorganization of the University, the Masters of City Planning, Masters of Public Administration, Bachelor of Political Science, and Bachelor of Public Affairs programs are organized as a Department of Public Affairs in the School of Management.

1986

·        The organizational configuration of the School of Management was dissolved and the Department of Public Affairs is moved into the College of Arts and Sciences.

1995

·        American Planning Association recognizes the Masters of City Planning as a program.

1999

·        Proposal prepared to formalize the reinstatement / reconstitution of the School of Public Affairs.

2001

·        The Barbara Jordan Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs is newly organized and launched offering undergraduate degrees in Administration of Justice, Political Science and Public Affairs and Masters’ degrees in City Planning and Public Administration.

2002

·        Dr. Don Anthony Woods is appointed Dean of the newly organized Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

·        The proposal for the Master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy is submitted for authorization.

2003

·        A Masters degree and PhD programs for the Urban Planning and Environmental Policy are approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

·        First students enter the PhD program in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy during the Fall 2003 semester.

2004

·        Formal proposal submitted to construct a new facility in the northeast quadrant on the campus of Texas Southern University to house the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

·        Dr. Walter J. McCoy receives the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs Impact Award and a Proclamation of Appreciation from Texas Southern University President.

·        Lawrence Howard, Ph.D., presents a faculty and student lecture on the various perspectives of public administration.

2005

·        Texas Southern University Board of Regents gives final construction approval for the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Science Building. The facility is designed to house the offices, classrooms, lecture halls, a geographic information systems (GIS) laboratory, a state-of-the-art forensic “crime scene” laboratory. The Mickey Leland Center on World Hunger and Peace and the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Institute is also housed in the facility.

2006

·        Dr. Theophilus Herrington is named Dean, Barbara Jordan Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

·        The Texas Department of Transportation awards the Urban Planning and Environmental Policy Department a $290,000 grant to develop emission, truck trips and railcars estimation methodology for major Texas Ports.

·        Oluponmile Olunilua becomes the fi rst candidate to be awarded a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy during the Fall Commencement Ceremony. (December 2006)

2007

·        The Masters Degree program begins for candidates in the Masters of Science Administration of Justice Department degree program with eight students admitted into the inaugural class.

·        Dr. Harvey White, President, American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) visits the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs to present a lecture entitled, “Transformational Public Administration: A Call to Pubic Service.”

·        The MPA program hosts a National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) site visit team as part of its review for accreditation.

·        The application for candidacy to the Master of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy is submitted to the Planning Accreditation Board for approval.

2008

·        The faculty and staff move into its new state of the arts research, teaching, and learning facility.

·        The Ph.D. program begins in Administration of Justice with fourteen students admitted into the inaugural class.