Mary Tschirhart, Ph.D

Biography

Mary Tschirhart is the Director of the Institute for Nonprofit Research, Education and Engagement and Professor of Public Administration in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at North Carolina State University. She currently serves as Vice President for North America for the International Research Society for Public Management and as Vice President for Pi Alpha Alpha, a National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. She serves on the editorial boards of two academic journals: Public Management Review and the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Sector Marketing.

Professor Tschirhart earned her doctorate from the University of Michigan business school in organizational behavior and human resource management. One of her dissertation grants was from Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, which laid a path for her move to Indiana University as an assistant professor in 1993. She led the efforts of IU's School of Public & Environmental Affairs to build its now top-ranked nonprofit management programs. While at Indiana, Professor Tschirhart held appointments in philanthropic studies and museum studies, and was inducted into FACET, a group for the top 2% of faculty identified as exceptional teachers.

Professor Tschirhart moved to Syracuse University in 2002 to join the faculty of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and help build their now highly-ranked nonprofit management program. She served as the director of the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute at the Maxwell School before joining the NC State faculty in 2008.

Professor Tschirhart has held board positions with the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), and was the chair of both the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management (AOM) and the Nonprofit Education Section of the National Association of School of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). She has served on the boards of social service nonprofit organizations, and her local United Way and community library. For a short time after earning her MBA in arts administration, Tschirhart directed a nonprofit arts organization.

Professor Tschirhart's scholarly work reflects her interest in the management and governance of nonprofit organizations, and multi-sector collaborations. Currently, she is addressing the managerial and ethical implications of various approaches to membership and volunteer programs, as well as issues of nonprofit accountability and self-regulation. She has numerous publications and consulting experiences in the United States and abroad. She has presented workshops in the Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon, Russia and Mexico.