PITT PROFESSOR RECEIVES HONORARY DEGREE IN FINLAND

PITTSBURGH, July 10 -- B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh political science professor, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Vaasa, Finland, for his outstanding merits in the public policy field with emphasis on his comparative public administration research.

The Squirrel Hill resident received the distinguished honorary doctorate in Administrative Sciences during a ceremony where he was given a hat and sword to commemorate the honor. The ceremony is held every fifth or tenth year in Finnish universities.

His first major book, "The Politics of Bureaucracy," has contributed significantly to the scholarship and practice of public administration and policy analysis. It has become the standard for texts in comparative public administration. In addition to this book, Peters has published 13 other books, sometimes with co-authors, and written numerous articles and book chapters. His books have been translated into Spanish, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, and French.

An internationally famous scholar, Peters has worked with the OECD, Australia, Canada, Britain, and the Netherlands as a research consultant on administrative problems and reforms. His professional work has been supported by grants from foundations including the Ford, Sloan, Exxon and Harkness Foundations. He has also won grants from NSF, the German DAAD and the Humboldt Stifting Foundation.

Peters is a visiting researcher at Nuffield College, Oxford each summer and has held visiting posts in Stockholm, Strathclyde, Manchester, Bergen, Hochschule St. Gallen, Zurich, Erasmus and Leiden, El Colegio de Mexico, and the Australian National University. He has consulted with governments ranging from the City of New Orleans to the government of Australia.

His current projects are directed at the development of new administrative structures and procedures for the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.

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