ANZSOG Distinguished Fellowship awarded to Professor Paul ‘t Hart

Professor Paul ‘t Hart has been awarded an ANZSOG Distinguished Fellow Award to recognise his 17-year contribution to ANZSOG and his role as an inspirational teacher and scholar of public governance. 

The Award was conferred by ANZSOG Dean and CEO Caron Beaton-Wells in Melbourne, where Professor ‘t Hart was visiting to teach into the ANZSOG Executive Master of Public Administration program and deliver an address to public sector leaders on the Return of Geopolitics and its impact on public administration. 

Professor Beaton-Wells said that the award of Distinguished Fellow recognised Professor ‘t Hart’s leadership in the theory and practice of public administration, and his contribution to public governance that people trust. 

“Paul, you’re joining a truly distinguished company in deservedly receiving this award, which recognises your high standards of professional expertise and personal integrity, and the very significant contribution that you have made,” she said. 

“Paul has served since 2007 as the co-faculty for teaching the Executive Master of Public Administration subject Leading Public Sector Change and in 2009, he co-created, and has since co-taught, our leading executive program, Towards Strategic Leadership. This is a really impactful, and sometimes life-changing, program that helps public service leaders step up from operational into strategic roles. 

Professor Caron Beaton-Wells said that ANZSOG was ‘deeply grateful’ for Paul’s long-term contribution to its work. 

“He has had a huge impact on the lives and careers of his students, who are still drawing on the insights they learned. We know that you have influenced and inspired generations of public service leaders,” she said. 

Professor ‘t Hart has decades of experience as an academic and an adviser to governments in his home country of the Netherlands and across Europe. 

A believer in bridging gaps between academia and practice, he has trained thousands of civil servants and advised hundreds of governments and public officials at the local, national and international levels. 

He serves as a Professor of Public Administration at the University of Utrecht, and is the vice-president of the Scientific Council for Government, the Netherlands Government’s independent think tank advising cabinet and parliament about long-range and boundary-crossing public policy challenges. 

In 2024, he was awarded the annual Stevin Prize by the NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research). The prize – awarded for researchers who deliver excellent, ground-breaking, and inspiring work in the field of knowledge utilisation – is often called a ‘Dutch Nobel Prize’. It amounts to €1.5 million to be spent on scientific research. 

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Professor t’ Hart co-ordinated a series of ANZSOG publications – the Leading in a Crisis Series – which curated and distilled insights that were used by public servants to help deal with the uncertainty of the crisis sweeping the world. 

He recently co-edited a book, Pathways to Positive Public Administration which aims to counterbalance the negativity bias in discussion of public administration, and to share lessons from public policy successes across the world. 

Professor ‘t Hart said that receiving the Distinguished Fellowship award was a real honour. 

“I find it really difficult to be rewarded for something that I’ve always regarded as an immense privilege, the fact that ANZSOG has year upon year invited me back in to contribute to its programs, and teach public sector leaders. I try and give everything I have in the classroom, but I’ve also taken so much from these encounters.” 

“I’m not just a Dutchman. I’m a dual citizen. I’m Australian in that sense, so to get recognition from my second country at this level is truly humbling.” 

Professor ‘t Hart will continue his association with ANZSOG, leading and contributing across our portfolio, and in turn continuing to strengthen public sector leadership across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.