Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, has been elected to the National Academy of Public Administration as a member of its 2025 Class of Academy Fellows. As an Academy Fellow she will be involved in advancing the field of public administration and supporting government at the local, state, and federal levels.
An internationally recognized sociologist, Dean Watkins-Hayes is widely credited for her groundbreaking research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and human service institutions, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS, poverty, and race, class, and gender studies. Her book Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality won seven awards, including the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Book Award, the discipline's highest book honor. In 2025 she was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science, honors that underscore her impact on social science scholarship.
“I am so pleased to welcome Celeste Watkins-Hayes to the Academy’s 2025 class of Fellows,” said James-Christian Blockwood, President & CEO of the Academy. “It is an incredibly important time to honor excellence in public service. Our Academy Fellows are nationally recognized and respected for their expertise and contributions to their country. Celeste exemplifies everything we ask public servants to be.”
Selection of the Academy’s new Fellows follows a rigorous review of the individual’s contributions to the field of public administration and policy. A Fellows Nominating Committee makes its recommendations to the full Fellowship, which then votes on those individuals to be elected. The 42 members of the 2025 class join more than 1,000 Academy Fellows, including former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, and state legislators, as well as prominent scholars, executives.
Induction of the new Fellows will occur during the Academy’s 2025 National Conference in November, with a focus on how public service must evolve for the future.
Dean Watkins-Hayes joins the Ford School’s Susan D. Page, Michael S. Barr, Barry Rabe, Janet A. Weiss, and Edie Goldenberg in this honor.
Read the National Academy of Public Administration press release.
About the National Academy of Public Administration
Chartered by Congress to provide non-partisan expert advice, the Academy is an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan organization established in 1967 to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable, and transparent organizations.
