Faculty Features for March 2016

Susan Gooden, Ph.D., professor of public administration and policy, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Gooden will be inducted as president of the nation’s largest and most prominent professional association for public administration during the group’s upcoming annual conference.

Gooden will become president of the American Society of Public Administration, the first person from VCU and the first African-American woman to ascend to its highest office in the group’s 77-year history.

“ASPA is a rich blend of academics and practitioners. I am very honored and humbled to have this opportunity to serve,” Gooden said. “This is exciting for both VCU and the Wilder School.”

Gooden will be inducted as president of the 7,000-member group during its conference in Seattle, Washington, on March 22.  Serving as president is part of a four-year commitment to leadership: She began as vice president, was president-elect this year, and after her one-year term, she will serve as immediate past president.

At the conference on March 18, she will also deliver the keynote address at ASPA’s Section on Public Law and Administration’s annual fundraising dinner, which has a theme of social justice and how it relates to Seattle and other communities. Gooden will discuss her book, “Race and Social Equity: A Nervous Area of Government,” which includes Seattle as one of its case studies.

On March 20, VCU is sponsoring a reception, and there will be an exhibit booth that will display books by Wilder School faculty and information about the university throughout the conference.

As president, Gooden wants to focus on engaging members and continuing to promote local chapters, of which there are 56. The Central Virginia chapter of ASPA was reinvigorated last year, with Eleanor Nowak, who earned her M.P.A. at the Wilder School, as president-elect.

“We’re the nation’s largest and oldest public administration association. I am delighted that we will have 1,500 members attend our conference, but I want to focus on all members,” she said. “I want us to actively engage all ASPA members throughout the year, including those who do not typically attend the conference.”

She also wants to continue to offer more webinars and book talks for members, as well as to continue to develop and engage young professionals.

As she enters her year-long term, Gooden said the top issues facing public administration are providing equity in public services and making sure the public sector workforce has the resources it needs.

“The public sector is always being asked to do more with less,” she said. “We want to continue to provide top-rate public service with attention to each of the E’s — effectiveness, efficiency and equity.”

 

Anne Wright, director of outreach education, VCU Rice Rivers Center, and assistant professor, Department of Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences

Wright was awarded the Green Giant Award by the Sierra Club Falls of the James Group this month in honor of her work in environmental education.

“We are happy to recognize Wright for her hard work in local environmental education,” said Adele Maclean, chairperson for the club. “She has brought attention and enthusiasm that has been truly inspirational to all of us with the Science in the Park program.”

Wright’s projects and students were featured in the short documentary “The Urban Forest,” which was honored at the recent RVA Environmental Film Festival.

The award is given annually to individuals who have demonstrated “outstanding commitment to protecting and improving the environment of greater Richmond.” Wright was presented with the award during the chapter’s March 9, 2016, meeting, during which she spoke about the game camera project currently underway in the James River Park System.

“Wright has been instrumental in encouraging students to learn and share their knowledge about local ecosystems,” said Scott Burger, coordinator of the film festival and FOJG, which is one of 14 Sierra Club chapters in Virginia.

 

Reni Gower, professor, Department of Painting and Printmaking, School of the Arts

Five of Gower’s collages are featured in the recently published “Encaustic Art in the Twenty-First Century” by Anne Lee and E. Ashley Rooney.

The featured pieces — “Cantibile,” “Rhapsody,” “Ostinato,” “Quadrile” and “Pas de Deux” — are collages on panels of 15" x 18½". Encaustic art is a highly versatile process and adaptable to many mediums. It involves pigmented molten wax that is combined with damar resin. Various heating tools adhere each layer to the next. Artists can use a variety of techniques such as scraping, burning or dyeing to combine painting, printmaking and more.

Gower uses paint or stamps, or scrapes away layers of wax over the images and textually collaged surfaces. Her artwork incorporates ornamental paper, maps and recycled materials to create dense spaces, colors and content.

“Gower’s saturated strokes are bold,” writes Kim Bernard in the book’s forward, “as she confidently incorporates complex patterns with a repetitive, decorative motif.”

Gower came to Virginia Commonwealth University in 1981 and has been continuously recognized with awards and grants for her work. In 2014, she receivedthree Awards of Excellence for Teaching from the College Art Association, VCU and VCUarts. Gower curates winning traveling exhibitions, including “Papercuts,” “Heated Exchange,” and “FABRICation.” In addition to being a professor and working independently, she also teaches workshops in conjunction with her projects. Her art has been exhibited internationally and nationally for more than 30 years and is represented in significant collections.